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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25670857">Tread Softly</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoldenAppleofAsgard/pseuds/TheGoldenAppleofAsgard'>TheGoldenAppleofAsgard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Amnesia, Blindfolds, Dubious Consent, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Non-Consensual Somnophilia, Non-Consensual Touching, Possessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Restraints, Teasing, Temporary Amnesia, Touch-Starved</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:28:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>73,476</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25670857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoldenAppleofAsgard/pseuds/TheGoldenAppleofAsgard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re a SOLDIER, aren’t you?” Rufus made the question seem more like a statement, like he did not need confirmation from someone he considered lesser. Given the attitude of his father, before his untimely skewering, the condescension wasn’t too much of a surprise and Cloud wondered if Rufus would care for the passing of his only remaining relative. Doubtful, given the rumours that circulated about the intense dislike between the now-dead President and his Heir Apparent. There was no love lost there.</p><p>“Which, of course,” Those cold blue eyes narrowed as Rufus continued, the corner of his lips curling up in something that could have been a smile in any other circumstance, but was more a clever concealment of sharp teeth ready to bite, “Would mean that I own you.”</p><p>Cloud scoffed loudly to hide how much he wanted to bristle in disgust, the sudden repulsion as he tossed his head enough to throw blonde hair across his face, but by the way Rufus’ smile blossomed into something truly carnivorous, it seemed he wasn’t chagrined in the least at the disrespectful response. That was Shinra’s way. It was all about ownership. All about staking a claim. </p><p>“Ex-SOLDIER.” Cloud bit out, shortly, “I quit.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rufus Shinra/Cloud Strife, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>741</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First order of business! I'd apologise, but I'm not sorry. </p><p>I have no clue where I'm taking this, just that I watched the Remake rooftop battle and it has inspired a sudden thirst for something I now refer to as Strifra (because what the frick is a decent ship name for these moody darlings?). I've shipped these two since OG FFVII, it got worse with Advent Children and now Squeenix expects me to listen to Rufus 'BossDaddy' Shinra flirt with my favourite spiky chocobo on a rooftop, and thinks that I will not do anything about it? </p><p>HA! SO FUNNY.</p><p>So, this is at least dub-con, because Cloud is a cute little puppet who doesn't connect kissing and fighting yet. I put the non-con warnings up because this could go anywhere, and foretold is forewarned and all that jazz. If people like this I will continue it, so please come scream at me in the comments. I welcome it. I'm also aware we're rolling together in Rarepair Hell, and I want to put out some content, so if you have some suggestions, please, don't be shy. </p><p>Also, seriously considering writing a scene where Rufus manages to catch Cloud at his Inaugural parade... </p><p>So, there's that.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was no warning that Cloud could have drawn attention to. The missile emerged as if from nowhere, made almost no sound discernible enough to encourage action before it struck its target. The force of impact was enough to send the controlled and steady descent of the Avalanche chopper into a panicked spiral, revealing the dark silhouette approaching behind it. The blades of the propeller faltered under the hit, and bright flames lit up the sky like a flare as the cabin caught the heat, devastation spreading so quickly that even Cloud’s enhanced vision detected no sign of movement within the craft before it fell below the sight-lines of the edge of the landing pad, trailing fire like a comet. </p><p>Tifa’s gasp of horror seemed swallowed up by the way Barret fell silent. Unusual, given his penchant for being loud. Cloud chanced a glance at him, but there was no time to question the brief glimpse of fear he caught on his face before it morphed into the now familiar scowl of grim determination. </p><p>The air above them was dark, heavy with dense smog churned up from the green plumes of mako-fire generated by the reactors surrounding the edge of the city, perfect for concealing stealth attacks, and the retrieval team had been brazenly circling Sector Zero, openly challenging Shinra to defend their territory. The encroaching helicopter that emerged from the shadows was lit just enough to make out the bright red of Shinra’s mark plastered along its side, glossy as fresh blood.</p><p>Cloud felt frustration bubble up within him at the sight of it. </p><p>Avalanche had been their only way out. The rest of the tower would be on high alert by now, alarms roaring through every level, elevators and staircases armed to the teeth with patrols. They hadn’t managed to capture Hojo. As a senior member of Shinra’s Board, that raving lunatic had probably mustered a decent chunk of the infantry, if not SOLDIER itself to pin them down, and after all the trouble they’d fought through just to get to this point, mess after mess, endless stairs, the battles in the lab, the encounter with Sephiroth, and the hybrid creature he pit them against in the President's office? They weren’t ready to face even half of that again on the way out. </p><p>Aerith looked strangely stoic as she stared up at the approaching helicopter, but despite the determination in her eyes, she seemed pale, wavering in the wind like she was ready to drop. Clearly she hadn’t slept since Hojo had gotten his hands on her. Too afraid to let her guard down? Cloud didn’t doubt it, after the way he’d heard the scientist talk about her when he’d concealed himself in the air ducts to spy. Just the memory of him bartering Aerith like she was a piece of meat to be prodded at, a specimen without a soul, without a choice, was enough to grate on his nerves. The man was twisted, absolutely despicable. He didn’t blame Aerith at all for trying to keep herself safe, no matter how much she was seemingly paying for it now. </p><p>Tifa was still reeling from the plate drop, the losses at the pillar and the fallout after grating on her like sandpaper on raw nerves, guilt piled heavy on top of the anger simmering in the absence of consequence for those responsible. That she had fixed her sights on saving Aerith as a silver lining to the horrors of the last few days was good, but the helpless fury was eating at her. Cloud could see it in the tense line of her shoulders, the tremble of her clenched fists. She looked an inch from bouncing on the balls of her feet, anxious concern and burning rage mixed into a Molotov cocktail that could only push a person so far. Tifa was burning herself out. It was painful to witness, and dangerous to let her stew in it when there was no way out now, but down through the mire they had wanted so desperately to avoid.</p><p>Barret seemed to be holding together well enough, but the cracks were starting to show when he thought there was no one watching. He bore the weight of it all. The man had it in him to be brash, and irritating, but even Cloud knew that underneath it all, he was a bleeding heart braced for a punishing blow. He took the leadership of his team seriously, cared for them all in his own blunt, often aggravating way. Cloud had seen it in how he’d held Tifa close, encouraged her fire, stoked it until he dug up the will she needed to keep walking through the wake of the plate collapse. He’d seen it in the heartbreaking way Barret had let himself grieve only briefly for lost comrades before he shuttered away that pulsing aching part of himself to ensure his team and the people around him were alright. Even before Cloud had let himself open up enough to listen, before darker losses hit them hard, he’d heard it in the impassioned defense of the planet he’d taken responsibility for. Barret was strong, and extremely capable, but Cloud had no idea where the limit for that lay, and he did not want to find that line tonight.</p><p>They were all in rough shape. He could acknowledge that. </p><p>Cloud felt worn thin, himself, though he did his best to hide it. He’d braced himself for Shinra, even before Elmyra had given her blessing to rescue Aerith from their clutches. They weren’t a big enough problem to rattle him. </p><p>But, Hojo? </p><p>That monster was a blatant sadist with a few too many secrets. Just the sight of him put an unexpected trip of fear in his gut, the likes of which Cloud could only ever recall feeling around one particular hallucination. </p><p>Not that Sephiroth even counted as one of those, anymore. </p><p>Tifa had seen him. They all had, and more than once, at that. The situation with President Shinra had been jarring enough, but the wracking ache of what had happened with Sephiroth in the labs, that strange compulsion that had shivered through his entire body until the ringing croon of a foreign voice echoed in his skull…</p><p>Cloud shook his head to dispel the momentary haze that cloaked him like a thin gossamer sheet of sticky cobweb. The horrifying interlude with Sephiroth, and the harbinger they’d fought in the presidential office might have swept those memories away like dust for the others, fear for Barret’s life enough to shock even the most stoic of their ragtag brigade, but there was something there that Cloud just couldn’t seem to shake. Something that throbbed in his upper arm like a phantom pain, that tugged at the edges of him like a loose thread until he felt fit to unravel. He clamped the feeling down like an intrusive thought, buried it like he buried most things. The unnerving weight of the sensations alone sat heavy like a shadow in the back of his mind to linger on another day. </p><p>Those thoughts were the kind of dark he couldn’t afford to entertain in Shinra territory, especially when the only one of their party seeming in fierce spirits born of strength instead of bravado was the creature that had asked them to call him Red. His hackles were raised, paws braced against the roof, the flame of his tail leaving a streak of light through the darkness as it lashed, green eyes staring up warily into the night sky.</p><p>The helicopter was closing in fast and loud, the cut of spinning blades easing it into a descent towards the rooftop that set Cloud’s adrenaline buzzing like a hive inside his mind. They needed to move. They were too exposed.</p><p>“Shit…” He turned away from the open roof, the sound of footsteps falling into sync oddly loud behind him as they backed away out of the immediate line of fire. That the chopper hadn’t set it’s guns on them yet was a miracle, but he suspected it was more to do with the closing of a trap than any form of good will. That, or conserving ammunition. Either way, they had a limited amount of time to make some headway down the tower before they found themselves cornered and now was not the time to waste it.</p><p>The chopper settled cleanly onto the helipad, the doors to the cabin sliding open immediately after contact, troopers jumping out in haste but they didn’t move to intercept, spreading to stand guard around the vehicle even as the blades continued to circle overhead. Dropping off, then. No intention to stay. That was fine. Once they were inside the building, the pilot would have limited access to fire on them so it wasn’t an obstacle. The glimpse of bright red Cloud caught from the pilot's seat told him that at least one person with a grudge was on board, and he’d rather not have anyone else deal with his problems if that particular Turk was still gunning for him.</p><p>Cloud slowed to usher Aerith and Tifa behind him towards the doors of the President’s former office, Red loping past him and after them as he moved to the rear of the group, ready to defend their retreat if the troopers opened fire. Barret came to a stop at his side, his gun arm prepped and ready, but Cloud didn’t reach for his sword just yet. No need to set them off by drawing his weapon, if it gave them more time to escape. He wanted to urge Barret onward after the others, reaching out to push at his arm, but was momentarily distracted as a figure draped in white stepped into the dark space of the helicopter’s open cabin door, ash blond hair and pale skin gleaming enough in the low light to draw his eye. </p><p>“If it ain’t Rufus Shinra…” Barret’s voice was low and loaded with contempt, maybe even a little bewildered, perhaps unsure as to why the Vice President of Shinra would deliberately endanger himself when Sector Zero was so clearly unsafe, “Heir to the throne himself.”</p><p>Cloud muttered an affirmative, but he didn’t look away as the Prince of Midgar stepped down onto the helipad in a flutter of rich fabrics, striding forward under the arc of the propellers without an ounce of hesitation. He moved like the pampered brat Cloud expected. Smug, back straight, posture well-bred and self-satisfied. Like his money and influence were more a shield than the many expensive layers of clothing he used to protect himself. There was a darker shadow behind him, a large hybrid creature slinking down from the dark cabin of the helicopter, large paws keeping pace at his side. </p><p>An Infantry bloodhound? </p><p>No, Cloud thought. Bigger. Meaner. A guard dog. Of course, only the best would do for someone like Rufus. As much as he could make out in the dark, the animal was heavyset in the shoulders, looked much closer to a beast than a hound. No doubt another of Hojo’s pets, whipped into compliant servitude. Rufus certainly cut an intimidating figure with that kind of monster under his heel, the flare of his expensive jacket billowing around him in the air kicked up by the chopper. There was enough distance between them that he was too far away to see properly, but Rufus’ head turned to zero in on their group immediately as he waved the chopper back into the air, and Cloud felt a prickle of something cold trace over the back of his neck. </p><p>Now was not the time to be distracted.  </p><p>Barret charged forward, shoulders braced like he wanted to barrel right into the four troopers standing guard, as though he could mow them down like dry grass just to get his hands around the neck of Shinra’s new President, and Cloud snapped out the order before he even realised he was speaking.</p><p>“Stop.”</p><p>“The hell I will!” Barret’s voice was loud enough to carry, and Cloud had just enough time to observe the smug tilt of the head Rufus directed at them before he looked away, straight up into dark eyes through the shaded lenses of his glasses as Barret came in close, “We can finish off the family here and now!” </p><p>He wasn’t wrong. It was a perfect opportunity, maybe the only one they’d ever get before Shinra’s ranks closed in around their new pinnacle, but it wasn’t their first priority. It wasn’t what they had come here to do. The first priority stood behind him, exhausted and hopeful, and Cloud knew if Aerith didn’t manage to get out of the building, she’d be dragged back into Hojo’s clutches. Into a bare glass cell, in a dreary lab. To be poked, and prodded, and bred like an animal. To be treated as less than human until she gave them what they wanted, if she could even give them that. Aerith was the last person who ever deserved such a fate.</p><p>“Take Aerith, and get outta here,” Cloud glanced back at the girls behind him, Tifa standing in front of the last Ancient like she was ready to lay some serious hurt on whoever dared to even look at the flower girl wrong. It was sweet, a kind of sweetness that didn’t deserve to be stuck in this situation. It hadn’t even been Aerith’s fault that she ended up here. She had bargained her freedom for Marlene’s safety, something she’d chosen to do to protect a little girl she’d never met before, who’d been put into her care. That Shinra had taken advantage of that kindness to entrap and experiment on her... </p><p>Everything about it was wrong. </p><p>The sound of guns shifting, and booted feet stepping heavy behind Barret’s broad back was enough to draw his attention and he moved around Barret to watch their progress, preparing to intercept the troopers that were creeping forward in formation. A simple surround and subdue. Not today.</p><p>“I’ll buy you guys some time.” </p><p>“I could stay here, back you up.” Barret’s voice was the softest he’d ever heard it outside of holding Marlene in his arms, almost pleading. Cloud only just managed to thinly veil his shock to hear it directed at him when they’d never really been on the best of terms, but it seemed a silly thing to focus on with so much going on. The offer was genuinely thoughtful, and it would have been nice to have the support, but he couldn’t accept. Tifa and Aerith were capable by themselves, but there was no telling what kind of reception they’d be walking into downstairs. They needed every possible advantage they could get if they wanted to make it out safely.</p><p>“Barret, I’m asking you...” Cloud turned to look Barret in the eyes, bared the desperation on his own face that he was trying so hard to press down. They were wasting time. Every minute they weren’t moving was another minute lost. They needed to get out now. “Please.”</p><p>The pause was heavy, weighted with the rotation of blades on the helipad and the scuff of standard issue boots on the roof as the troopers sidled carefully closer. Too close. Cloud forced himself to stare Barret down instead of looking towards his targets as his instincts sorely wanted him to. He couldn’t break. Not on this. It was too important.</p><p>“Fine. Have it your way then.” Barret looked aggrieved, his dark brow wrinkling behind his shades as he stared back at the mercenary like he was extracting a promise, “But, you better be right behind us.”</p><p>Cloud only managed to catch Tifa’s gaze briefly as Barret brushed past him, thankfully not one for sweet and lengthy goodbyes. Her nod was curt, the purse of her mouth worried even as she turned away to sprint after the pink flutter of Aerith’s dress. Barret led them back inside the building to begin their arduous descent to street level and Cloud didn’t dare waste time watching them until they were completely out of sight, but the darkness still managed to swallow them up far too quickly for his liking. Probably for the best. He turned back to the four troopers circling in close and gave up thought to let his tired body move like the weapon it was supposed to be, driving forward quickly enough to gain the momentum he needed to vault into the air, and cut off their route past him.</p><p>The buster sword came down in a powerful slash, the blue light of Braver striking up the roof like unnatural lightning, carving a scarred up welt into the floor. He aimed more to threaten than to incapacitate, unenhanced troopers clearly no match for the strength of SOLDIER, and the sheer force of the blow sent all four Infantrymen stumbling backwards on shaking legs with startled cries. It was warning enough. Cloud swept his sword out, a visual barricade he dared them to cross, but the small force sent against him cowered away towards their master, eyeing him through their visors like he’d chew them up if they got too close again. It was almost as pitiful as it was satisfying.</p><p>Rufus did not seem impressed as he swept through the cautious collection of his accompaniment, cool eyes moving over Cloud, from his face, the wiry strength of his arms, to his weapon, and down over the placement of his feet as if he were assessing. Like he was sizing him up. His beast followed after him without instruction, bracing at his side, and Cloud spared only a glance at it. Definitely one of Hojo’s. There was a vibrant glimmer of intelligence in the animal’s dark red eyes, as if it was rooting out any weakness to exploit. </p><p>Like Master, like pet.</p><p>Cloud took the opportunity for what it was, the chance to look over his opposition in turn, easing his sword arm down now that the troopers fell in line behind the Shinra heir, making no move to attempt a second confrontation, the heir in question seemingly unconcerned with how much he had exposed himself to any form of frontal attack. It was either extremely stupid, or he was hoping to be underestimated, and even though his arrogance was practically bleeding out across the rooftop like an open invitation, Cloud was willing to bet gil on the latter and stood his ground.</p><p>Rufus was classically handsome, some of his father’s aristocratic genes evident in the line of his jaw behind the high collar, the slope of his nose. The colour of his eyes he could only guess at as Barret had been the one to deal with the President up close, but the sweep of ash blond hair was clearly inherited. His pristine coat was thick over strong shoulders, heavy from the way it shifted with Rufus’ movement and not much else. Perhaps armoured in some way. It was very unlikely he’d arrived unaware of AVALANCHE’s infiltration given he had been escorted by the Turks, and had dressed for the occasion. His posture was deceptive though, relaxed, but well-practiced. Like a panther trained to pounce, only after it had cornered its prey. </p><p>“You’re a SOLDIER, aren’t you?” Rufus made the question seem more like a statement, like he did not need confirmation from someone he considered lesser. Given the attitude of his father, before his untimely skewering, the condescension wasn’t too much of a surprise and Cloud wondered if Rufus would care for the passing of his only remaining relative. Doubtful, given the rumours that circulated about the intense dislike between the now-dead President and his Heir Apparent. There was no love lost there.</p><p>“Which, of course,” Those cold blue eyes narrowed as Rufus continued, glittering like diamond dust in the dimmed light, the corner of his lips curling up in something that could have been a smile in any other circumstance, but was more a clever concealment of sharp teeth ready to bite, “Would mean that I own you.”</p><p>Cloud scoffed loudly to hide how much he wanted to bristle in disgust, the sudden repulsion as he tossed his head enough to throw blond hair across his face, but by the way Rufus’ smile blossomed into something truly carnivorous, it seemed he wasn’t chagrined in the least at the disrespectful response. That was Shinra’s way. It was all about ownership. All about staking a claim. </p><p>“Ex-SOLDIER.” Cloud bit out, shortly, “I quit.”</p><p>Rufus seemed amused by his defiance, almost delighted by it, if the indulgent way he rolled his shoulders back was any indication. There was no doubt he wasn’t used to it. It was probably a complete novelty to not have everyone in his immediate vicinity fall over their feet to fawn to his every whim. Even so, there was spite in him. Cloud couldn’t decide if he did it to deliberately annoy him, or if he genuinely felt safe enough to embrace ignorance, but Rufus turned his attention away from the blond like he wasn’t even a threat to throw his command to the troopers at his back, a cutting edge in his voice that brooked no argument.</p><p>“Secure the others.”</p><p>Cloud was moving before the troopers could even start in his direction but the rapid flare of quick and heavy gunfire on the metal grating at his feet drew him up short, dodging the ricochet swiftly enough to avoid getting shot. The helicopter was circling overhead, clearing the way for the four infantrymen to safely circle the mercenary and gain access to the building, following after Barret and the girls. Cloud could do nothing to stop them. Instead, he turned the ire of his gaze up towards the cockpit. Despite his enhanced vision, he couldn’t see Reno in the dark, but he knew the redhead had to be laughing at him. The only respite was that if he was allowed to kill him, he would have done it by now, so clearly Rufus didn’t want help.</p><p>The new President of Shinra was staring intently at him when Cloud brought his scowl back down to ground level, what looked to be a beautifully crafted custom shotgun resting against the length of his leg. Cloud had no appreciation for guns as a personal choice. Something about them irritated him, made him feel less secure than when he had a good solid sword to hand. He couldn’t recall ever having needed to rely on a gun despite his dislike of them, and he found it strange but it wasn’t really something to lament over. Many people used them to great effect, but it had never been something he was comfortable using as a primary weapon. Even so, he could recognise quality when he saw it, and if Rufus was touting something that specialised, there was a good chance he knew how to use it.</p><p>“Just the two of us.” Rufus stepped towards him, fearlessly confident, his creature crouching with a snarl at his side, hackles raised and teeth bared, the chains around its neck rattling as it moved. Cloud lifted the Buster sword, braced it for attack. It definitely did not seem like it would be just the two of them. </p><p>“”Well.” Rufus paused, slanting an overly affectionate glance at the monster beside him, what could only be described as a smirk stealing across his lips before he turned his attention back to his quarry, lifting his weapon like it weighed less than tissue paper, and setting the sight-lines directly for the blond’s heart.</p><p>Oh, he definitely knew how to use that thing.</p><p>“Maybe, three.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have no idea what to say, and you probably don't want to read this note anyway, so ON WITH THE CHAPTER~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cloud didn’t hesitate, throwing himself to the side and tucking into a roll just as the split second shriek of shotgun fire flew past his face close enough to make him flinch. The growl of Rufus’ guard dog was too close when he regained his balance, bringing up the Buster just in time to fend the beast back as it leapt at him, large paws beating a hasty retreat as he swung out with the sharp edge of his blade. As expected, the mutt wasn’t stupid.</p><p>Cloud stepped back, keeping himself crouched low, the width of his sword enough to block the majority of his body from Rufus’ gunfire, “Let’s get this over with.”</p><p>The echo of his opponent’s mild laugh carried across the rooftop despite the lack of wind.</p><p>“Don’t say that.”</p><p>Did he have to sound so… happy? Like he was enjoying himself? The tease of it was enough to settle indignation like a brittle layer of steel down the notches of his spine as Cloud allowed himself to glance over his self-made shield. Rufus was still, unnervingly so, the brightness of his colouring carving his silhouette out like an alabaster statue against the backdrop of the night. Was he just going to stand there like an easy target? </p><p>Cloud huffed impatiently. He wasn’t naive enough to assume his opponent was doing anything less than taunting him, trying to urge him closer with a play at incompetence. No, there were too many little details that said otherwise, too many noticeable things that he knew to look for. The calculating look in those cold eyes was apparent, and Rufus had positioned himself to the advantage of his chosen weapon, at a minimal safe distance away to inflict damage with little consequence. It also didn’t help that Rufus was avidly watching him like a bird of prey eyeing up a tasty snack. And his hound?</p><p>Cloud scanned the rooftop. It was gone.</p><p>Not good.</p><p>He braced to move, but it was too late, a streak of fire lancing up his back through the thin knit of his shirt as the creature crept up behind him, large paws pressuring the back of his calves until his legs buckled. It felt like he’d been whipped, the skin beneath the leather straps of his harness seared hot with it despite the protection of his uniform, and the back of his neck positively burned where his collar ended and exposed skin was left open to attack. Cloud grunted as he hit the ground, turning immediately to wedge the grip of his sword into the beast’s maw before it could chomp down on him. It snarled against the metal and leather like a bridled mount, trying to pin him down on his back, and the shift of white out of the corner of his eye told him Rufus was closing in.</p><p>Very not good.</p><p>Cloud kicked up, the steel of his toe caps digging harshly into the animal’s gut with enough force to break bone, but all it did was whimper, the strength of its hide too thick to penetrate with blunt force. It was enough to distract it from mauling him at the very least, and Cloud made the most of the few seconds it bought him, clawing his way out from under the bulk of the creature with as much grace as he could manage, activating his bracer just fast enough to cast fire before those sharp teeth could snap at him again. The sky lit up in a blaze of orange and yellow, bright enough to reflect like a flash off the helicopter windshield as the beast howled, and Cloud skirted past the hound to strike at its master, teeth grit as he swung the Buster hard enough that his arms ached.</p><p>Rufus drew up his weapon, firing off a volley that crashed against the metal of the sword, the echo of the hit sending a riot of vibration through the hilt and up into his shoulders. The strength of it was startling, and Cloud found himself rattled just enough that he momentarily lost sight of his target. Faster than Cloud dared to anticipate, the heat of Rufus rolled invasively close against his back as he spun and then the man was behind him, the low rumble of his quiet laugh grating as he levelled his reloaded shotgun to fire again. Cloud dropped swiftly to avoid catching the blistering cut of the bullet, kicking out his leg to take Rufus down but the man was quick, dancing back out of reach with a flurry of white fabric.</p><p>The gun had to be materia enhanced, Cloud thought, mind a scrambled mess as he tried to throw together a strategy. There was no tell-tale glow to suggest it, but that was the only explanation he could think of that made sense. He lifted his sword to shield again as he backed away, watching as the creature he’d flambeed moved back to its master's side, Rufus sparing a quick stroke to its thick neck. Rufus barely seemed out of breath which was unusual. Cloud wasn’t used to being matched in anything, but it seemed he’d underestimated exactly what kind of toys and training the Heir of Shinra would be inclined to play with.</p><p>“Not bad.” Rufus’ praise felt more like a slight as he checked his weapon with practiced hands, not even looking away from Cloud to do it, the beast at his side prowling forward and baring its sharp teeth in warning. As it crouched in preparation to attack, the vicious looking tail that sprouted from the back of its neck slashed in the dark night air like a striking Zolom head and Cloud followed it with his eyes, his hand rising to brush gloved fingers over the back of his neck. The skin was still tender where he’d been struck, a pulsing ache with a heartbeat all its own under the pressure of his barest touch.</p><p>‘Must have been what hit me…’ </p><p>He didn’t have time to linger on it as Rufus’ shrill whistle cut through the thought, and the animal was running forward again, airborne like it was bred to fly as it pounced at him. Cloud tried to keep at least some of his focus on Rufus as he moved away from his hound, circling around, but it was difficult to defend against the onslaught and keep watch at the same time. He slashed up towards an unprotected underbelly with his sword, the blade meeting resistance on the beast’s hide but the weight of the metal was enough to push the sharpened edge through enough to wound. A dark streak of blood arched up like a fountain over the metal grate of the roof, the stench of it hot and acrid, and Cloud stepped back quickly to avoid getting hit, the hound following with a vicious snarl as it skirted under the blade and caught his wrist in its maw, biting down hard around his bracer.</p><p>Cloud only just managed to bite his tongue to suppress his cry of surprise as sharp teeth ground against metal, holding him fast, and he met the hungry gaze of those red eyes. Up close, the creature looked utterly incandescent with rage. The heavy muscles draped in chains shifted, yanking him forward by the arm to throw what little weight he had into the air, and before Cloud could take breath, his body crashed back down onto the uncompromising solidity of the roof in a tangled roll, sword sliding after him. </p><p>It hurt, the metal and concrete rough against the bare skin of his arms, his leg twisting awkwardly beneath his body as he tried to slow his momentum. He managed to shield his head at the expense of his ribs,  every inhale tasting like fire in the back of his throat but unconsciousness was not an option, no matter how blissful the sweeping moment of peace would have been. The Buster screeched to a stop above his head, hilt just about within reach but before he could grasp for it, hot foul breath washed over the back of his shoulders, stirring the blond hairs at the nape of his neck and a large heavy paw settled on his spine, claws scraping against the magnetic sheath there.</p><p>Cloud froze as its rough leathery muzzle nudged up like a warning behind his ear, the low rumbles of a growl getting louder as he stretched his arm out slowly towards the sword. It was only the sensation of unkind hands twisting into his hair, dragging his head back, that managed to stop him from lunging for it and earning a neck full of teeth.</p><p>“Too slow.”</p><p>Rufus was crouched at his side, tone irritatingly snide, and as the weight of the hound eased off of his back, Cloud frantically tried to assess his options. There weren’t many. Before he could wrench himself away, the wicked looking shotgun pressed up under his chin as Rufus tugged, using the grip on his hair to guide him slowly up onto his hands and knees, neck stretched open and vulnerable in a way he couldn’t remember feeling before. In a way he did not like.</p><p>“An Ex-SOLDIER, indeed.” </p><p>Victory seemed to sit a little too well with Rufus, the purr of his voice practically dripping with self-congratulation, and even as a sharp retort settled on his tongue, Cloud wisely swallowed it down. Now was not the time to antagonise. He knew he could survive a few rounds of bullets if he had to, but at close range, and where the weapon was pointed, chances of survival were slim if he pushed Rufus enough to pull the trigger. Worst case scenario, he’d be too dead to be embarrassed at his own brash stupidity. Best case scenario, he’d be out of commission long enough for Rufus to deliver him to the Turks interrogation room for a bit of light torture. Either option sounded like hell.</p><p>His ribs throbbed in protest as Rufus drew him up further, but he wasn’t concerned. A quick breather, and the ache would ease. Nothing was broken. He couldn’t see the mutt in his immediate eye-line or peripheral as he settled back onto his haunches but the way Rufus tightened his grip on the fistful of blond hair as Cloud tried to tug away from him, to test his range of movement, pushed a startled grunt through his lips, and the heat that eased up against the length of his back shortly after was enough to distract him.</p><p>“What-” Cloud’s teeth clicked shut as the gun pressed up harder under his jaw, fighting to keep his arms down, hands hovering somewhere in the air around his hips in his uncertainty. There were few enough people he felt safe enough to expose his back to, and Rufus Shinra was definitely not one of them. The sudden panic that swelled up in him turned him rigid, breath caught fast in his lungs, and Rufus shifted in closer to pin Cloud between his own body and the threat of a bullet, so close the buttons of his jacket were more than apparent through the back of his shirt.</p><p>“You were too cocky.” Rufus sounded smug, chiding, and though Cloud couldn’t see his face, he’d had more than enough experience with assholes clinging to their delusions of grandeur that he just knew it was the kind of expression he’d love to press his fist into. Repeatedly. That need to lash out only grew as the hand in his hair loosened just enough to sift through his disheveled spikes in a seemingly gentle stroke, bare fingers sliding over his forehead, slipping through his hairline to force his head back onto a broad shoulder like a pliant doll.</p><p>Cloud tensed further, his whole body contracting into a network of tightened nerves ready to explode into movement, eyes staring unblinkingly up into the sky as he waited for a moment of opportunity. A split second. Anything he could use to break the hold without getting peppered with shotgun shrapnel.</p><p>Above them, the Turks’ helicopter tilted, the static of radio frequency humming across the air just loud enough for him to catch, even if he couldn’t make out the words. It must have been a warning of some kind, as the craft circled around and turned out into the darkness without so much as a check in with their Boss. Now, that hurt. That they believed him subdued, that they thought Rufus had the situation in hand enough that they could leave him unsupervised during a rooftop duel was a devastating blow to his pride. Cloud felt his hands curl into fists at his hips, fingers clenching so tightly he could feel them ache.</p><p>“You’re rather small, for a SOLDIER.” Rufus mused, quietly.</p><p>“Shut up.”</p><p>The gun tilted abruptly, metal cold and hard against the bone of his jaw, pressuring him just enough to turn his face against the shoulder it was braced into, and Cloud found himself staring up into those cold blue eyes directly. He was so close it made the blond nervous, the swath of heat at his back something he was unable to ignore, unsure of how to shift away without serious repercussions. The way Rufus loomed over him, inspecting him with some small measure of intrigue, like he was a pet that had done something particularly endearing, was both invasive and familiar, the dim light enough to turn his ash blond hair to silver-</p><p>Cloud startled at the realisation, and before his brain could quite catch up with his body, he felt his hand shooting up to knock the gun further afield, far enough that when Rufus pulled the trigger, the sound was deafening, but not lethal, the bullet disappearing upwards into the dark of the clouded sky. It didn't matter. So long as it didn't connect, Cloud was too uncomfortable with his back exposed to anyone that made him feel unsafe, real or imagined, not to risk a close call. A sharp elbow back into the other mans’ stomach, and a swift forward roll put Cloud within reach of his weapon, and he managed to drag the weight of the Buster up with both hands just in time to swipe at the gnashing teeth that came for him, the heavy pad of clawed feet on metal giving him ample time to defend himself as he put much-needed space between himself and Rufus. </p><p>“D! Come!” The other man eased to his feet like he had all the time in the world as the hound retreated, and Cloud allowed himself a slow and steady breath, hands twisting around the hilt of his weapon, rolling out the remaining prickle of warmth from his shoulders. </p><p>His ears rang. </p><p>He told himself it was from the close proximity to the gunfire, tried to force himself to ignore the waking susurrus of pleasant whispering tickling at the back of his mind that beckoned him with cruel eyes and the coaxed curling of fingers. The world turned white and grey around him, deep black corners stretching out their hands to catch and drag him into their clutches. He wondered for a short second that felt like a lifetime, if he had made the right choice to fight the shadows in his head that roiled in welcome as the voice he dreaded most echoed like a phantom only he could hear.</p><p>“Don’t deny me. Embrace me.”</p><p>Cloud staggered back a step as his eyes opened from a slow blink, the dim phosphorescence of the lab behind his eyelids fading to the quiet cool night air of the rooftop. Rufus was watching him, stoic and unmoving, the slow curl of a smile teasing at the corner of his mouth like he was entertained, and Cloud braced the weight of the Buster sword in the air, ready to attack even though he could feel his arms trembling.</p><p>Sephiroth was gone. </p><p>At least for now.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Who wants some Rufus POV? Yes? You sure? Okay, then...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rufus kept his eye on the SOLDIER as he moved back to a defensible distance, hefting the overlarge blade he wielded like it barely winded him to move it. Impressive. It didn’t distract from how ridiculous it looked in his hands, regardless of how capable he seemed with it. The boy was slender, small in stature, not the usual SOLDIER candidate. An anomaly in every sense of the word. Why he would choose to run with cast-out miscreants like AVALANCHE was a mystery. Why he’d left Shinra in the first place was another, but those were questions for another time.</p><p>He’d felt good to hold for the moment he’d had him, so much power, condensed and compressed into compliance in his arms. Any number of SOLDIER’s would subside under something so simple as an order if it were given, their obedience demanded by the hierarchy that they willingly submitted themselves to. That was the way the world worked. Strength and power were tools to be moulded, shaped by the people in charge until their teeth and claws were pointed in a specific direction. Beyond that, their obedience was boring. That this one required the threat of a weapon to bring him to heel was a heady thing. </p><p>He was quite lovely to look at, for a slum rat. Fair skin, smattered with freckles that should not have been apparent with the under-plate's lack of sun. He was thin, probably underfed from the way the standard issue leather belt cinched his waist to an unfathomable degree, but despite how deceptively weak his size made him look, that little body was wiry with strength. What meagre muscle definition he had was expected from a rookie cadet, but the way he fought, the force he commanded in a single swing of that sword spoke of a much higher rank. And, his eyes. Those scalding eyes bright as blue flame, streaked through with the glow of mako-enhancement. They were the truest sign of power.</p><p>The boy had been still under the threat of his gun, held only by the thread of mortality stretched thin under the mercy of an un-pulled trigger, but when he’d tilted that pretty face up towards him, met those eyes with his own, there’d been a moment. The SOLDIER had relaxed, slackened like a little doll, only enough that Rufus could feel his weight fall back into his chest, a brief press that didn’t last nearly long enough, and that scowling mouth had softened in a hitched little gasp. His eyes had brightened, a flare of brilliant green that for all of a second had swallowed every shade of blue that stared him down now, and his pupils had sharpened into something deeply feral. </p><p>It was beautiful.</p><p>He wanted to see it again.</p><p>DarkStar shifted restlessly at his side and Rufus stroked a hand down her back, briefly disturbing the chains that hung there. He still didn’t know the boy’s name. It was tempting to ask, but that knowledge was something he’d rather not have denied to him. It would be much simpler to take it, be it from the boys own lips, or by other means. Tseng would be able to pull the blond’s file, uncover every dirty little secret that drove him from the control of the company and into the clutches of the scruffy band of ecoterrorists that dared to oppose Shinra.</p><p>He’d had his hand in that mess once, slipping untraceable little tidbits of useful information through carefully covered back channels and into the greedy mitts of the slum factions of AVALANCHE, but that was then, and if his father was as dead as he anticipated, Shinra was his Kingdom to shape. Rufus knew how to take care of his things. No pesky little slum miscreants would dare cause trouble in his city. </p><p>Especially not those cultivated in the belly of Shinra, herself.</p><p>Rapid footfalls approaching over the roof had him lifting his weapon to fire at his attacker, but if he tilted it off the mark just a little to avoid damaging the blond too much, that was his own business. He was only reclaiming property after all. What use would a SOLDIER be if he was unable to perform his duties. He was unsure what duties he would prefer to have him submit to, but given enough time, the answer would become clear. </p><p>The blond was quick, covering the ground between them swiftly, but not quick enough, and Rufus moved back out of range to fire again as he pushed closer. It seemed the boy was foolish, putting himself too close to his beloved pet's teeth for comfort, all for the petty impatience of trying to end their little dance too soon.</p><p>DarkStar leapt in front to engage, responding to his whistle while he deftly reloaded his gun, her fierce whip of a tail swinging around to swipe at the boys feet, and he was a picture to watch as he leapt out of the way, inelegantly nimble despite the army issue boots he used to kick his devoted companion's paws out from beneath her. The sword came down in a hard swing, DarkStar retreating at his call to avoid a harsh blow to her exposed hind-legs as she skittered back to regain her balance. </p><p>“Not a fan of dogs?” Rufus clicked his tongue, spinning his gun to test the weight of it. His arm wasn’t getting sore yet, which was just as well, given they seemed far from done.</p><p>The SOLDIER was scowling again, completely ignoring the question with an expression far too serious for his youthful face. The aggression in his stance was menacing, fingers flexing on his empty hand, spine ramrod straight as he held his sword aloft with a single grip. The mess of his blond hair was distracting. Rufus wanted to put his hand in it again, wanted to drag him down onto his skinny little knees and watch those eyes blossom green with mako-fire. Wanted to wrap his fingers around that pale neck and hold him there, just for the pleasure of looking at him.</p><p>The thought alone was enough to suffuse him with warmth. </p><p>The next bout was swift and heavy, the three of them circling each other like birds of prey. Despite SOLDIER's reputation for churning out more muscle than brains in their more recent ranks, Rufus embraced the thrill of the fight as the smaller man kept pace, guarding his back, blocking his shots, defending from DarkStar's pouncing leaps like he'd learned everything he'd needed from the first time she'd pinned him. This one was smart, worryingly so, but it was hard to consider that a failing when it delivered such hard-won elation. Rufus could feel his breath quickening, even if it was the simplest thing to conceal. The rarity of it was profound, so much so that Rufus found himself glad that the rest of the SOLDIER ranks were not aware of how to throw such a gauntlet, so he could savour the new challenge that much more.</p><p>“Think you got my number?” The boy didn’t speak much, but when he did break the silence between them, it was with a measure of disrespect that both titillated and enraged, words as dry and caustic as they were bold, stoking a fire he wasn’t even aware had been lit. The daring look on his face was as much an invitation as it was a challenge, and Rufus was never one to back down from a good fight.</p><p>“Not at all. You’re making me sweat.” </p><p>Blue eyes zeroed in on his pocket as Rufus slipped a hand inside, bare fingers closing around the newly minted silver coins he kept within reach for special occasions, but his dance partner didn’t seem impressed when he held them up for inspection, that becoming mouth twisting in apparent confusion, the weight of his gaze shrewd. Sceptical little thing. </p><p>“Good thing I came prepared.” Rufus flicked the coins up into the air, the ringing of precious metal almost shivering and bell-like in the silence of the night, and while he did appreciate the way those eyes followed the glint of the coins up as they spun, that look was nothing compared to the alarm on the SOLDIER’s face as Rufus disengaged a second firearm from his shotgun, two sight-lines bracketing the boy between them.</p><p>The bullets struck the coins as they fell, a blinding streak of parallel lines shooting across the rooftop like trails of crackling molten fire, almost too fast to see and definitely too fast to avoid entirely. The cry of pain was like music to his ears, the glint of golden hair blurring into motion as the boy dropped and rolled. He just managed to dodge the brunt of the attack but that was poor consolation, his gloved hand lifting to hover cautiously over the sizable blackened char of his upper right arm as those blue eyes clenched shut. </p><p>It looked like it hurt from the way that head dropped, sharp shallow breaths dragged in through gritted teeth to suppress the reedy whine that seemed to escape anyway, the scent of burnt flesh thickening the air.</p><p>DarkStar lifted her head at it, scenting the wind like a shark tasting blood in the water, but Rufus waved her back, just enjoying the sight of the blond on his knees, gloved hand flaring bright green with healing magic as he cast over the nasty wound. It was hasty and unpracticed, taking more than a few seconds to stick, but eventually the shielding hand slid away to reveal the raw skin knitting back together underneath, the tender rosiness of newly healed flesh easing gradually into its expected unmarked hue. Tense muscles unwound as the materia did its work, those slender shoulders seeming to slump in relief. </p><p>“That’s…” That insolent tone was still there, still cutting despite the breathlessness of it, “A new trick.”</p><p>“Like it?” Rufus allowed himself to appreciate the sheer nerve, almost as much as he appreciated the sound of the boy winded. It put the most delightful images in his head of sweat-slick skin sliding across fine silk sheets, bound wrists twisting together in their confines, and those bright, bright eyes, gazing up in half-lidded pleasure, “Of course, you do.”</p><p>He tucked those tantalising thoughts away for later, urging DarkStar forward with a snap of fingers, and she tossed her head, her tail whipping in excitement like she was eager to get back to it. If the boy was well enough to mouth off, then he was clearly ready for another bout. </p><p>A handful of bullets wasted was more than a fair price to pay for the amusement of watching the SOLDIER dance, a stumbling sort of unpolished grace borne from knowledge of his own strength and capability, but no true art to the movement. He fended back the enhanced hound with strong arms, swinging his sword like a cleaver, little body compensating for his size with momentum, and it was far too tempting just to watch. To admire. To let the feeling of need to lay hands on him build into a heat that begged him to incapacitate his target just long enough to make it happen. </p><p>Just one bullet in the right place. Just one. But, it was too risky.</p><p>It was a dangerous distraction to entertain with an adversary so formidable. He’d never been inclined to let his opponents live, unless he was certain their fate was much darker than he could grant them. That he was even considering it now was unusual, and it left a strange bitterness in his mouth that he was reduced to such thoughts by a pretty face.</p><p>The blond was already moving like his serious injury was a mere memory when Rufus knew the cure materia was still working below that fair skin to soothe the sting of burnt tissue. Putting the boy out of commission long enough to restrain him was too questionable, and DarkStar was too easily led by her nose as she jumped right into a swing of the boys’ sword, distracted by the flavour she could still taste in the air. She paid for it, taking a sharp slice to the chest that bit into the spiked collar, the sharp edge of the hefty blade only just avoiding cleaving into the meat of her neck. </p><p>In retaliation, Rufus leased a few volleys in the blond's direction, skirting them closer to hits this time. Most skimmed clothing, grazed skin enough to leave faintly bleeding marks, and it was satisfying to watch the boy stagger when one bit deep into his upper thigh, to hear the pained grunt he let out as he held his ground to fight back DarkStar and give his enhancements the precious few minutes they needed to push the bullet out. He would heal given time, but with enough injury to the right areas, he would fall just long enough for guaranteed capture. SOLDIER’s were strong, but they had their limits. It would just be a case of finding the limit on this one, and putting it to use.</p><p>DarkStar howled as another swing of the sword swept her leg out from under her. The sickening crunch as the thicker edge of the blade hit bone was startlingly loud, and when the blond spun, bracer glowing bright as he summoned the crackle of lightning to hit her hard, she was too stunned to move. Rufus could only watch as the boy planted his feet securely on the roof to swing with all his might, the flat of the blade barreling into the hound like a battering ram, sending her limp twitching body skittering across the metal grating with a loud yelp, a sound he’d never heard her make in all his years of rearing her. </p><p>She lay in a pile of whimpering limbs, chains dragging across the floor as she attempted to stand, clearly in no condition to fight on. Rufus moved to defend her, loading up his gun and leveling it at the SOLDIER’S stomach in warning. </p><p>It was an unnecessary threat.</p><p>The sword that dealt so much damage lowered into self-defense again as the boy stepped back gingerly on his wounded leg, cautiously keeping his distance. While he did not look sorry, his mouth a hard line as he held his ground, it was clear he did not enjoy inflicting unnecessary suffering. Both an admirable trait, and a weakness to be exploited. The SOLDIER would be lucky if his friends escaped. Not only would they be the perfect leverage to ensure his compliance, but Shinra would have the additional satisfaction of stamping out some of the more impulsive slum factions of AVALANCHE, and recapturing the Ancient in a single evening. </p><p>Oh, he knew who they were in theory. His Turks had been keeping tabs on the Cetra since her escape so many years ago. Tseng’s pride, at times, was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, and that the girl had evaded capture for so long was something he took personal interest in. That she’d finally acquiesced to Shinra’s invitation under duress at his hand was a great source of accomplishment to him, a fact that Rufus was very aware of. The rest of the group would be identified eventually, information that could be acquired faster if they failed to escape the building. And, this one?</p><p>Rufus looked back at the boy as DarkStar whined plaintively at his feet.</p><p>This one would be an absolute pleasure to subdue. </p><p>Just the thought of what he could do, the various methods he could use to extract information from that pretty mouth was enough to spark a strange spike of hunger. He wouldn’t break him. No, not entirely. Not when that stubborn spirit was a large part of the appeal. A little wrangling, some stern correction, and he could be utter perfection. Something to be kept close, a pretty thing that was both useful and treasured. He had trained wilder beasts, after all. What was one more? Especially when the reward would be recompense in and of itself.</p><p>Just the thought of those glorious eyes looking to him for command, perhaps not in adoration, but complicit to his will, was enough to kindle something like yearning. Obedience would be enough to start if he could temper those sharp edges just enough for his own guaranteed safety, and the rest would come with time. </p><p>The boy would bend under his hand, and only his hand, of his own free will. </p><p>Choice was something rarely afforded to the ranks of SOLDIER of late. That had been a hard lesson learned after the mass defection, the loss of their finest enough to ignite tempers too high up the chain to ignore, and in response, Shinra’s fist had closed tight around their freedoms until the rebellious few were stamped out and the rest fell in line. The deserter standing across from him was more than enough reason to understand why.</p><p>Perhaps, Rufus pondered, he could be an example. Keeping him close after his recalibration would be a matter of selfishness of course, but if he was reclaimed as thoroughly as planned, the boy’s story could serve as both a warning, and something to aspire to. It would show the rest of SOLDIER that loyalty was to be prized above all when he was returned to the arms of his true family having learned his well-earned lessons. It would show the rest of SOLDIER that traitors would not be tolerated. </p><p>The tools to teach those worthwhile lessons were almost in hand. The boy had already revealed his weakness by remaining behind to fight while his companions fled, and when the night was over, he would follow orders, or others would suffer in his place.</p><p>Others such as his recaptured comrades, and their oh-so-special Cetra girl.  </p><p>Oh, yes. On this night, there was more than a single prize to be won.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, the last two weeks have been hell. Emotional upheaval, work-related upheaval, family shit gone horribly wrong, but *frantically sweeps all that crap in a corner where we don't have to look at it* We're not dealing with that right now. Sincerest apologies for the delay, but with *gestures broadly at the world* All of this rubbish happening, my brain has not been entirely co-operative, so I made sure to write a longer chapter for today to get myself back into my rhythm.</p><p>If anyone wants to send me some comments, I could really do with the pep-me-up right now, and nothing gives me a greater high than your responses. Always happy to talk with you guys. You're all adorable! </p><p>To everyone leaving kudos, bookmarking and writing me sweet things in response to my fic, thank you for supporting me, you have no idea how much I genuinely appreciate it~</p><p>Happy Bank Holiday from the Isle of Britannia!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rufus kept most of his attention on the boy who seemed to be funneling what was left of his curative energies into fixing the hole in his thigh with single-minded focus. He was determined to ensure he was within sight at all times. A turned back was an advantage to anyone willing to make the most of it, and despite the dishonour of taking such an opening, Rufus did not yet know his opponent well enough to discount his eagerness to return to his terrorist friends.</p><p>It seemed he needn’t have worried. The bullet dropped loosely onto the gridded floor of the helipad followed by a short groan of relief, but the SOLDIER made no other moves to flee or to engage in further combat, choosing instead to catch his breath. With deft sleight of hand, a vial of glittering liquid rolled across his gloved fingers, the boy wisely choosing to bite the cork loose instead of lowering his sword as he tipped the potion back in one swift mouthful. </p><p>A hasty patchwork job. Crude, but effective. </p><p>Rufus took the respite for what it was, finally relaxing enough to turn his sights on DarkStar’s huddled form, curled up smaller than he could remember seeing from her since she was a pup. He was so used to her taking up space when he allowed it, sprawling over everything she could comfortably lay across, that the sight of her lapping at her injured leg with laboured breathing pinched at his more tender inclinations.</p><p>“Easy, now...” Rufus passed the bare tips of his fingers over his hound’s drooping ears, and his beloved pet lifted her head into his hand when he moved to stroke her neck above the damaged leather of her collar. Her normally bright eyes were dull with pain, and her leg looked broken, perhaps even shattered under the blow it had taken, but it was nothing that could not be remedied with little complication once business was concluded, for which he was grateful, “Inside with you.”</p><p>He spared a gentle encouraging pat to her flank, but he did not watch as DarkStar picked herself up at his word to hobble the painful distance to the presidential office, instead turning his full attention back to the blond who seemed to be watching him back with too keen eyes. </p><p>He did not like that look. </p><p>In other circumstances, the consideration of it would be welcome, but here, within seconds of resuming their battle, that look was more dangerous than he cared to admit. It was the look of someone understanding how much leverage a creature like DarkStar was worth, and given he had just been calculating exactly how much benefit could be gleaned from using the boy’s friends in much the same way, Rufus was not comfortable having those scales tip out of his favour by any margin.</p><p>A quick cock of his gun in warning as he strode forward to resume their battle hardened that gaze into stone, all softness buried behind the terse silence of a knitted brow, and the blond flexed his grip on the hilt of his sword, testing his weight on his healing leg in a move that could have passed for subtle, if the eyes he was trying to hide it from were any less keen.</p><p>“Now, it’s just the two of us.” The boy’s voice carried strong across the distance between them, words as pointed as the tip of his blade. His eyes were nearly aglow in the darkness, fiercely bright and enchanting all the more for the way they were fixed on him, all sharp shards of blue ice, cutting if not for the pout of that stern mouth.</p><p>Now, that look was one he could appreciate.</p><p>The SOLDIER was trying far too hard to brace that stoic shield of cool composure over whatever lay beneath, and Rufus found himself all the more tempted to rip it down. Would he cave like so many others when all bravado was stripped away? Would he cower? Or, would he keep his courage, like so few had managed?</p><p>It was a delightful mystery that begged an answer.</p><p>Rufus lifted the two coins drawn from his pocket between his fingers in silent warning, the glitter of them hypnotic as he let them fly, and the boy took the bait as they spiraled up into the air, stiffening in preparation to move. No doubt he was thinking on how much they’d hurt last time as they came down, and Rufus took the advantage of his distraction as a gift, leveling his shotgun at the ground behind him and using the blast to propel himself forward at speed. </p><p>SOLDIER reflexes were quick, but the diversion still cost him, Rufus’ gun slamming down hard on the edge of the defending sword, before he twisted away. The blond was barely able to lift his weapon high enough to block the shot Rufus aimed at him immediately after, the bullet ricocheting off solid metal with a ringing cacophony of noise, and the SOLDIER stumbled for solid footing as his boots skid across the roof, the meagre weight of him not enough to stop the force of the blast from pushing him back. The sword smoked like it had been doused in a fueled flame and then watered out, but he kept it high, breathing through the hit. </p><p>Still able to keep up, then.</p><p>Good.</p><p>Rufus allowed the familiar weight of his gun to spin in his hand, as close a companion as any living breathing thing, and enticed his target closer with beckoning fingers.</p><p>“Let’s make it a night to remember...”</p><p>Those stunning eyes narrowed, but the boy still followed the summons like any well-trained creature, launching himself forward to re-engage, and sweeping his weapon up in an arc, a move that seemed clean but for the way that pretty face seemed strained with effort. It was a most becoming vision in close range, and Rufus drew closer instead of pulling away, to better soak up the sight of those burning eyes, the flutter of the feathered tips of his golden hair, and the sleek lines of his body as he moved. It was as advantageous as it was reckless, and he brought up his gun to fire at exposed ribs, forcing the boy to dodge a direct shot instead of following through on his attack. </p><p>It became much easier to see how much strength it took to wield the blade with the minimised distance, and Rufus fought to keep them close, if only so he could appreciate the flush of mild exertion in fair skin, how the muscle of his opponents upper arms tensed like gleaming marble, and through all the pretty packaging of his coveted commodity, where his weakness was starting to show. The boy was still favouring his leg, only easing onto it for the most cursory of steps, and Rufus was only briefly sorry that he wasn’t fighting him fully refreshed and at his peak, before the defences of Shinra Tower had done their work. Still, he had never been one to play fair. He moved around the boy’s next strike, sliding up behind him like liquid into the crevasse of his blind spot to kick his strong leg out from under him, savouring the startled yell as the smaller body dropped without warning and rolled out of reach.</p><p>Slender shoulders tensed as the boy sprung up as fast as he was able to raise his guard again, but the teetering way he staggered under his own weight like he didn’t expect to be so unbalanced was interesting. The quick flash of concern that furrowed his brow was even more so. Yet, he did not cast cure. He did not reach for any more potions. He was still healing, but not at a rate rapid enough to remove the disadvantage of injury. Was he unable? Had he used up all his resources already?</p><p>Or, had he foolishly given the more potent protections to the less enhanced of his group? </p><p>Rufus caught the worried look the boy shot across the rooftop towards the presidential office. His friends were long gone by now, though, how much progress they’d made was yet to be determined. That the blond had urged them on without him showed weakness enough, and it was all too easy to imagine the soft heart under that competent shell, ready to bruise, ready to bleed for the people he cared about.</p><p>Rufus was beyond certain that he would have willingly given his friends everything he could to protect themselves, and kept nothing for himself.</p><p>Foolish. Irresponsible. Advantageous, to some.</p><p>If he couldn’t heal himself, the odds of capture increased most favourably. Not to say that it would be easy by any stretch. Enhanced was enhanced, power was power, and Rufus had no doubts that the boy would fight tooth and nail if he found himself cornered, but would it be enough for him to save himself? At this point, all it would take to bring him in safely was some cunning, and a decent amount of patience. Two things he had never been short of.</p><p>‘Poor flightless bird,’ Rufus thought to himself, openly admiring how those anxious eyes shifted back to him, how the boy caught him staring and how the entirety of his countenance hardened in animosity to the sharply deliberate way Rufus loaded fresh ammunition into his weapon, like he’d already won, ‘I’ll cage you yet.’</p><p>He pounced before his opponent was ready, another shotgun blast into the helipad giving him the leverage he needed to get close before the SOLDIER could find the momentum he needed to put the sword between them, and the frustration that creased the smooth-boned lines of that fine face was as beautiful as the anger it morphed into. </p><p>Rufus swung his weapon down hard until the barrel of it clashed against the unbraced blade, deftly unlatching his smaller gun with his free hand, and pushing the sword out wide enough that the boy stumbled back to compensate for the weight of it. </p><p>It worked like a charm, and Rufus was there to reap the benefits of the distraction. </p><p>He swept in close, his arm slipping around the narrow waist like a hook, gripping tight to the back of the boy’s stomach guard to reel him forward and the SOLDIER tilted into the sudden pull of it, his cry of alarm muffled into the chest of Rufus’ jacket as he lost his balance, scant body weight tripping into open arms. The boy’s empty hand clenched into a fist, swinging up high and fast, and it could have dealt some serious damage, but Rufus was ready for it. His grip around that slender waist moved up high over his back, locking the boy’s muscled shoulder to his chest as his concealed second gun slid up right into the comfortable little dip at the base of the boy’s skull with the warning click of a removed safety catch.</p><p>The blond froze with a muted sound of disbelief, head tilting instinctively away from the gun but the muzzle of it followed, pressing even more easily into the bare skin he’d unwittingly yielded. Rufus couldn’t see his face from this angle, the diminutive height of the SOLDIER hiding the sure signs of panic on that pretty face beneath the nest of his unruly hair. He was tense in a way that was becoming familiar, the thrill of fear undoubtedly pulsing in his blood like fresh adrenaline, fueling impulsive thought like a virus, but there was nowhere to go, nothing to do. He was too close to use his sword, and not fast enough to deflect the bullet before he could strike.</p><p>Caught. Again.</p><p>It would only be temporary. Rufus wasn’t foolish enough to think otherwise. </p><p>He had no back up, and the SOLDIER was clever, no doubt already trying to puzzle out an escape route, little thoughts racing inside that fluffy head like electric currents. If that wasn’t enough, he was strong, even without a weapon. He wouldn’t be SOLDIER if he wasn’t, despite his claims to the contrary, but for the moment, it was enough to know that all of that quick perception, all of that strength had been trapped, had been stilled. Had been forced to bend under another's will. For now, Rufus was content to know that he could subdue him, no matter how narrow the window of opportunity was. It cemented the certainty that he could, and would, subdue him again. The knowledge of how just needed to be perfected. </p><p>The feel of him compact and ready to riot, pressed in close like a cuffed and collared wildling resisting the impulse to lash out, was wonderful. Rufus wanted to put his arm back around that waspish waist, to feel him struggle to get closer or pull away, to drag his fingers back through the mess of blond and use it as a handhold to pull that head back, expose the length of his unprotected throat, and show him his place. In Shinra, with Rufus, where he belonged. </p><p>It was a shame the boy was too strong to be overcome by bare hands alone, even if that particular element of this unexpected treasure was delightful all by itself. Perhaps in another time, another place, with better planning and more control, he could explore the possibilities. When he could dare to touch without threat of a gun. When he could do as he pleased without facing the threat of a sword. </p><p>Were there restraints strong enough to hold down a SOLDIER? The thought of it was enough to send a thrum of warmth through his bones until he felt saturated with it. Perhaps not as breathtaking as the thought of the stubborn creature submitting by choice, but it was definitely worth looking at for future encounters, now that he knew there was something worth pursuing.</p><p>For now, though, this would have to do.</p><p>“Settle down now...” Rufus pressed the thick barrel of his shotgun down harder until the willful grip the boy had on his sword faltered, pushing his smaller gun harder into the notch at the back of the boy’s jaw as he tried to move back, that pale face lifting up to level a venomous glare at him under the pressure of it. Rufus offered a cutting smile at his opponent, the grind of metal almost a screech as he forced the sword blade low, the tip of it dragging over the grating of the helipad. </p><p>The boy’s shivering gasp as his arm twisted back with the weight of his weapon was loud in the sudden silence, and Rufus was so close he could almost taste it, those wide mako-flooded eyes shocking up close, but no less beautiful. He didn’t speak, but the grit of his teeth was a lashing all on its own, a frown wrinkling that freckled nose as his body weight shifted, trying to ease back onto his own two feet. </p><p>Rufus didn’t allow it, moving in close until there was nothing but the memory of air between them, and those delightful eyes widened as the boy lost his footing again. He seemed confused by their proximity, unsure of it, unfamiliar with it in ways that put dark little thoughts in Rufus’ mind about how much he could break apart the blond’s fragile defences. They were mere feet from the glass of the office windows, and it was tempting to push until he could press his prize against them for more leverage, but giving the boy something as breakable as glass to work with when he was far from tamed was a dangerous mistake. It would be best not to tempt fate like that, especially when the blond was resourceful enough to make use of every opportunity. </p><p>Rufus hissed as a sharp pain rolled down the entirety of his right arm in a flourishing spasm.</p><p>He hadn’t even seen the boy move. </p><p>The attack was swift and sharp enough to push through the thinner layers of his armoured coat like it was nothing but silk, the sharp protrusions of the SOLDIER’s heavier wrist bracer digging back into the tender nerves in the back of his shoulder joint for the second time as he was struck again. Rufus saw more than felt his grip loosening around the smaller gun enough for the blond to safely shrug his shoulder up, the protection of his pauldron thick enough to deflect the weapon at his throat as he threw his weight forward. Rufus staggered under the force of it. Resourceful indeed, but not resourceful enough. </p><p>The boy tried to retreat, but he wasn’t fast enough and Rufus cut his losses, clutching numb fingers around his gun and throwing his aching arm around the boy’s waist until he could drag him back into orbit. A split second of smug anticipation rocketed through him at the sight of that bewildered face as the blond was pulled up onto his toes, pale enticing lips parting in surprise just as Rufus chose to sweep down and lay claim to them.</p><p>That encouraged a noise quite unlike any others from that tempting mouth. </p><p>Shock. A quiet, almost muted sound. An untested and untried sound. Weak and sweet enough to be the teasing kind of mewl Rufus would expect of an unseasoned debutante embracing a first amorous touch. A scalding lick of fire to a tender fingertip. Persephone, and her first seed of pomegranate. It bubbled out into the air between them like the most beautiful music, the soft huff of the boy’s breath as those fierce eyes fluttered open wide in surprise as much a treat as the taste of him. All fury, and heat and the faintest traces of Potion.</p><p>It was shock worth savouring, and Rufus wasted no time, coaxing that open mouth to remain so as he plundered it, determined to make the most of the SOLDIER caught off his guard. The blond did not kiss back, did not bite or struggle as expected, but instead seemed entirely stricken, as if he’d never been kissed before, and wasn’t sure what the correct response should be. Rufus only tightened his hold as a powerful hand gripped at his shoulder, the strength in it clenching against the armour of his jacket in a way that would have broken bone if he’d been less prepared, and the clatter of the large sword striking the metal of the roof kindled triumph like a wildfire as he licked into that open mouth. </p><p>The unexpected whimper of something frightened muffled against his own lips was a delicacy he did not anticipate.</p><p>A truly beautiful sound befitting a truly beautiful moment.</p><p>He was so warm, this pretty thing with no name, radiating heat that seeped through the layers of clothing between them as Rufus tipped him back on unsteady legs until he was holding him up with both arms, wrapping him up tight until the air between them was starved of itself. The length of his shotgun pressed to the arch of a slender back to keep the boy still as the SOLDIER’s other hand clenched in his sleeve, pushing like a kneading cat. He looked so stunned, when Rufus opened his eyes to gaze at him. So unexpectedly young when he looked unsure of himself. Less a vicious terrorist come to light the world afire, more a frail little bird with clipped wings, his freckles lit up with the flood of colour that bloomed in his cheeks. For all his competency with a weapon, the sight of him so disarmed was utterly adorable.</p><p>“What are-” The poor thing could barely speak, staring up with an expression as dumbfounded as Rufus could ever remember seeing on a person as he tried to turn his head away, attempting fruitlessly to withhold the soft wet treasure of his mouth from everything Rufus wanted to do to it. Still so stubborn, despite the fact that he could barely stand, something Rufus found unusual given the strength he’d wielded thus far as he wilted in the arms that held him. All over a kiss?</p><p>Perhaps a first kiss?</p><p>The realisation was more a revelation. Unheard of for even a cadet of the SOLDIER program to have escaped the entirety of their training without having sullied themselves somehow, and yet... </p><p>Rufus pulled the boy in closer, held him tighter as he started to shift nervously in his arms, rapturous stare moving from startled eyes and down until it caught on the fullness of that kiss-plump lower lip. He wanted to bite it, wanted to press the boy down to the floor and watch him squirm under the onslaught of what he appeared to never have felt. The panic that he could detect in those enhanced eyes now as he tried to back away was growing by the second, but still, Rufus could barely believe it, even with the way strong hands tried to shove instantly at his chest as the boy fought to find his balance. </p><p>Was he embarrassed? Scared? </p><p>Was it something else?</p><p>Either way, it was dangerous. He was finding his strength again, the fading shock bleeding the stillness out of his body until he looked ready to make a break for it and Rufus wasn’t about to allow that. </p><p>Not while he had any say in it.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hoo boy, this was supposed to be a one-shot, you know? But, as usual, life is a train-wreck, and I just got so carried away escaping into the beautiful world of Final Fantasy VII that now it's gonna be a whole freaking thing. The fuckery will be rife. I did not consent to my brain being hijacked by my own thought process like this. I don't know how long this is going to be, I don't even know how complicated. But, please know, I already have ideas in mind for follow ups, even if I have no clue how this is going to actually finish. So that's gonna just... excuse me... *removes brain so I have something to look at while I yell* HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME. WE WERE A TEAM.</p><p>ANYWAY! I got some truly lovely reviews on my last chapter, so THANK YOU SO MUCH to the kind darlings who took time out of their busy day to scream their feelings at me. Your comments are the greatest gifts and I cherish every single one. All my black little hearts! You're all precious!</p><p>I truly hope you enjoy this next chapter! </p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sharp senses could be easy to fool, if you knew how. </p><p>SOLDIER were prone to relying on their enhancements in ways that were oftentimes dangerous, all too easily caught in the draw of their many successes and few failures. The right application of substances, subtle shifts of air, or even specific sorts of sounds could draw their focus when they were keyed up high enough, and a single second could be used against them before they even realised what was happening. The high intensity environment of battle was the arena they were designed for, but even inside of Shinra, it was a little-known fact that SOLDIER’s were not infallible. </p><p>Rufus relaxed his fingers and let the smaller of his beloved guns drop from his hand to the roof, the abrasive sound of metal striking metal loud and jarring even against un-enhanced hearing, just as he intended. The blond shied away from the noise abruptly, a pained wince rippling across his expression, but he didn’t even think to fight him when Rufus lifted the bare fingers of his free hand to capture the fine point of the boy’s chin. It was nothing at all to tip that lovely face up just long enough to reclaim the scowl of his mouth, swallowing up the sharp gasp that escaped, and easing back into the languid sensation of stealing something so wonderful from someone who should have been strong enough to stop him. </p><p>It was always the rarest delicacies from the most unexpected places, always the hardest won treats that tasted the sweetest.</p><p>This time, the boy did try to bite, hands curling into fistfuls in his jacket hard enough that the seams around the armour began to creak under the strain, pushing back to try and release himself even as Rufus held him immobile. He found it enjoyable to snatch away whatever scraps of composure the SOLDIER could scramble together, yanking the boy up higher onto his toes every time he tried to step back. That the SOLDIER had enough sense in his head to put up a token resistance was oddly refreshing, even more so when the minute rebellion of sharp teeth gnashed around his tongue until it stung, the taste of blue blood seasoning the mesh of their mouths, and resonating with the aftertaste of burnt gunpowder in the air. </p><p>Rufus gave it back eagerly, the excuse of the others savagery encouragement of the worst kind. The boy’s lips were as soft as his teeth were sharp, a little chapped, but even that was a pleasant change to the few dalliances Rufus had strung along in the past. Those fickle ladder-climbing time-wasters had been boring and predictable in ways he foresaw long before routine set in, but this? This brave little thing that dared, that stood toe to toe with him, and wielded defiance like a sparking flame was enough to ignite hunger the likes of which he’d only ever felt staring down the length of an office towards his dearly-departed father’s seat of power. </p><p>Rufus pressed harder, the sound of standard issue boots scuffing over the roof as the boy finally found enough grip to stand negligible compared to the way his breath stuttered into the kiss, but Rufus didn’t give him room to breathe, lapping up against the boy’s hard palette as he tugged the boys mouth open wider. It was so quiet now, the night thick around them, a curtain to shroud them from the rest of the city, the rest of Gaia, and Rufus felt nothing but complete control as he allowed his teeth to trap the temptation of the boy’s lower lip between them as he very much craved to, nipping harshly at the tender flesh until a halting whine escaped into the air between them. </p><p>A single note of sweet surrender, hushed like a secret. </p><p>That was more than he expected. More than he’d dared to hope for. </p><p>Pride was too often the downfall of any SOLDIER, their ego’s well-fed and fast to swell. Many had collapsed under the weight of it, even in situations that required little from them beyond the barest hint of humility. That this one allowed himself to plead, voiceless though it may have been, was more than enough for Rufus to grant mercy, softening the ferocity of his kiss until it teased more than tore at the throb of bitten skin. </p><p>The swift change of pressure, from coarse and forceful to a considerate kind of coaxing, seemed to have an entirely different effect on the boy. One that stilled the hands pushing at him until they fell motionless against his chest under the gentle strokes of his tongue, one that allowed him to hold the boy close without having to fight for it, and at long last, confusion bled into a strange sort of acceptance as blond lashes fluttered against freckled cheekbones, those brilliant eyes closing as he allowed himself to simply feel. The boy caved under his kisses so beautifully when he stopped resisting, falling utterly still to fully embrace the breathlessness of it like he was sinking into a trance, until the grip of those hands was tugging, needy and not knowing why, instead of pushing away like a resentful child. </p><p>He was almost silent, a visual feast in his submission, soft noises echoing across the rooftop like they were escaping the bubble of their privacy and Rufus stroked the back of his fingers up over the curve of a cheekbone as the blond’s head tilted into his guidance. So calm, so gentle. He still did not kiss back, leaving himself open for the taking instead of participating, but that would come with time. That he knew when to surrender was the much greater gift, and now that he could touch without hindrance, Rufus dragged his hand up into the soft plume of blond spikes to better turn that face up for the pleasure he wanted to bestow upon it. The feel of spun gold carding through his fingers was downy as feathers, only a little tacky from some form of product. Freshly washed of the grit of the slums, he would only be all the more wonderful to touch.</p><p>It was too irresistible not to think about. Keeping the boy for his own.</p><p>The allure of frantic nights of powerful passion play that he could earn with every ounce of his strength, followed languorously by waking up to sleep-warm skin and soft kisses on the mornings that he craved such things was such delectable temptation. Of rolling this delightful creature onto his back whenever he felt like it. Of midnight spars, and teaching him all the ways in which he could temper that strength of will to fall under the wave of his hand. Of providing the constant that a lost soul with no North needed to guide their way. He could be that gladly for as long as he felt inclined, and all he would ask in return was undivided loyalty. </p><p>The boy’s body and soul was already his by contract, rebellion or not. He would not give that up without a fight, but the loyalty Shinra had callously misplaced could easily be swayed with the right incentive, and Rufus was determined to find it. Anything to keep this extraordinary little thing in his grasp.</p><p>The boy would resent the cage at first, but it would be for his own good. Until he set aside notions of freedom for the better reality of the safety of servitude. Until he realised that the only thing he ever needed to be sure of was Rufus. It would take a while for that stubborn streak to settle, to accept his situation, and even longer to embrace it, but the reward would be worth every second of the work. Rufus was willing to bet his Little Bird would sing so sweetly in his cage, once he learned to ignore the bars.</p><p>The air was thin when embers of the kiss kindled low to the chastest brush of lips, and as the boy drew back down onto his heels, Rufus let him go. Only enough to look at him and see his own handiwork written so clearly across the unusual slit of glazed green eyes and beautifully blushing skin, only so far as the inches he would allow. Only so there was nothing else to divert the boy from the feeling of the hand in his hair sliding down and under the woolen neckline of his uniform to curl around the back of his slender neck, gripping tightly in a claim he’d wanted to stake since they’d met not an hour ago.</p><p>It was akin to waking from a dream.</p><p>The mako in his eyes flared in a pulse so bright it was almost blinding to look at directly, and the blond pulled in a wretched gasp of air like he’d broken the surface of deep waters as he wrenched immediately against the hold, so much so that Rufus doubted he could have held him had he put any more strength behind it. </p><p>A struggle broke out, almost knocking Rufus’ grip on his gun askew at the dip of the blond’s spine if he’d been a lesser marksman more prone to distraction. That blessed single instant of docility was swallowed up into the dark void around them like it had never been there, the boy reeling in his arms like he’d just discovered the trap, and Rufus had the distinct pleasure of watching the fascinating change in those eyes, green bleeding into sky blue like a chip of expensive glass turning in the light, the sharp slash of his pupil flourishing out to swallow the colour around it.</p><p>“Let go… let go of me!” </p><p>That husky voice rose from a quiet rasp of air until it was practically a shout, riddled with anger much more potent than any swing of his sword, and Rufus smiled at him, this untethered little thing that had allowed himself to be handled. Against his own will, even. Seduction was a delicate strategy at the best of times, but this had been something else. A full immersion. A seemingly powerful loss of self. The boy had gone down like something bred for docility, and it spoke well of how deeply Shinra had ingrained itself that those subservient tendencies still lingered under the surface, that he could dredge them up so easily. It wasn’t like anyone else had high enough clearance in Shinra to use any such training against a SOLDIER. </p><p>Or, beyond the feckless board of directors his father had elected, none that still lived.</p><p>Rufus clenched his fingers tighter, digging for the cluster of nerves that would send a weaker man to his knees but the boy didn’t falter, turning his head to try and twist free, already scanning the rooftop for his weapon. How inconvenient. </p><p>Rufus dug his hand higher under dishevelled blond hair to try and guide the boy closer, further out of reach of the blade he had dropped but he met strong resistance, and instead of losing his grip to put the boy in the sights of his shotgun, he called on the materia concealed within it. The leather of the glove he had wrapped around the back of that deceptively thin neck heated rapidly in a way only magic could manage, and the boy gave in to the pressure Rufus bore down on him to try and escape it. Rufus foolishly thought that the threat of fire had been all he’d needed to show his prey to his knees, but the warning scrape of metal ringing in the night air made him move, jumping back and relinquishing his hold as the sharp edge of a sword came for his ankles.  </p><p>Smart Little Bird.</p><p>He dodged another swing, the wild uncoordinated thrusts of the blade designed to force distance with no plan, and when Rufus looked up, safely free from the cut of the reclaimed weapon, clear blue eyes burned back at him, confused rage as furious and beautiful as he’d ever had the joy to witness carving itself across the face he’d held in his hand only moments ago.  </p><p>The spitfire was radiant in his anger, the colour of it bubbling out of him like a fever heat as he climbed to his feet with rigid purpose, hands braced around the hilt of his weapon as if he’d melded himself to it. </p><p>All that chaotic disorientation, that emotion, the sweet moment of tender surrender. Rufus could see it all morph into the little wisp of cloud that heralded an incoming storm. He watched it brew with fascination, rolling over those lightly muscled shoulders like blue smoke until his entire body was alight with it, sharp chin tilting down until those mako eyes focused. </p><p>A phoenix swathed in dancing blue flame, magnificent and deadly.</p><p>It was easy to see the predator, now. The vital component to be fostered with encouragement in all who succeeded in the SOLDIER program was, at its heart, the capacity for untamable violence. It was the dangerous undercurrent that made them all formidable when they slipped their leash, no matter their stature. The slip of a thing that had shivered weakly in his arms was ready to hunt, and as Rufus levelled his shotgun at the blond, he watched the storm break.  </p><p>A battle cry louder than any sound the boy had made so far echoed across the rooftop as he hit his limit, and he was a fast, almost indistinguishable blur through the dark with the power of it. Even with Haste in his arsenal, Rufus struggled to deflect the force of the sword as it swung at him hard enough to streak fire through the air, the sheer strength indomitable as his prized shotgun sailed out of his hand and over the edge of the building. His second gun lay across the rooftop where he had dropped it, but he had no doubts it would have gone much the same way, even if he had it to hand. </p><p>There were very few who could defend against a SOLDIER in their prime, and even if Rufus could, the boy was truly stunning in his ire, something he could have marvelled at it for hours if he did not have reason to believe that blade was coming for him next.</p><p>He tried to move but the way was blocked, the SOLDIER cornering him effectively into the edge of the roof with a surprising amount of restraint, and Rufus barely managed to prevent himself from commenting on how much nicer that cute little scowl looked when his mouth had been ravished. Best not to rattle the cage before his Little Bird could sense it closing around him. However, he made no effort to avert his eyes when he was caught looking, caught wanting, only dragging his gaze back up to firmly display his intent without provoking any further attack.</p><p>The boy trembled in the wake of it like he’d been physically touched, sword lifting to level at Rufus’ chest like he could use it as a barrier between them, but his voice was steady when he spoke, confident even. Such a quick recovery. </p><p>“I could end this, here and now.”  </p><p>An idle threat. If he had intent to do it, it would be done already. Of that, Rufus had no doubt. There was nothing but air at his back and steel at his front, and the boy had every advantage. No one chose words over actions in such a position. A swing of the sword, a gentle nudge with his hand, and Rufus knew he would be naught but a memory. Still, fear was repugnant, and he would knock that sword aside and kiss the air from those pretty little lungs as soon as he was given an opening to do so. </p><p>It seemed he would not have to wait long for the chance as he caught the faint cut of fast approaching chopper blades rising through the quiet of the air, scaling higher up the side of the building behind him. </p><p>Took them long enough.</p><p>“No,” Rufus replied with ease, as the sound grew louder, closer, swelling in the night like an incoming tide until even the blond could hear it, even if he wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from “Not quite.”</p><p>Reno’s flying was truly an asset at times, the Turk mad enough to attempt maneuvers that made even the most seasoned of pilots balk. Vertical ascent was something he’d mastered long before it was certified as safe, and as the bright beam of the chopper’s searchlight cut over the edge of the rooftop and streaked across the metal helipad like a solar flare, Rufus only had enough time to see those enchanting eyes shift beneath the sudden brightness of golden hair, pupils slitting into serpentine fury before the blond flinched violently away, arm shielding his face from the blinding glare of it. </p><p>The wind kicked high around them, buffeting against the weight of Rufus’ armoured coat, the helicopter already close enough for Reno to leap down onto the roof with a finesse often unexpected from him. His quick eyes scanned for injury, satisfied to find none as he passed Rufus to stand between the new President of Shinra and the SOLDIER he deemed a threat, even if the blond was still shrinking away from the light.</p><p>“You okay, Boss?” </p><p>The question was unexpected. Reno was the least likely of the Turks to nurture a bleeding heart and yet, he was the one most prone to sympathy. It was enough to garner him a sharp look from his employer.</p><p>“Quite.” </p><p>“Sorry we had to ditch ya.” Reno’s cocky smile took on a slightly savage edge, “Had to go crash a party. But, you were having fun with the kid, right?”</p><p>Reno inclined his head towards the third party on the roof, and Rufus looked back towards the SOLDIER to find him still hunched over, gloved hand tangled up into the mess of his hair, clutching at his own head. He looked tense, alert even though he wasn’t looking at either of his opponents. His attention seemed to be drawn out blankly towards the Midgar expressway, transfixed and straining as if to hear something imperceptible over the sound of the hovering helicopter nearby. Rufus followed his gaze, but he couldn’t see anything through the dark.</p><p>Reno was caught in his one last perfunctory check-over before he put his levity aside in favour of focus, easing forward towards the blond, his electro-mag rod propped up over his shoulder and ready to swing if he needed to. Rufus had never seen Reno be careful with anything in his life, but the edge of caution in the redhead’s movements spoke of more than passing knowledge of SOLDIER strength. The way the Turks lip curled in disdain as he studied his target even more closely, Rufus figured maybe it was less to do with SOLDIER itself, and more history with this SOLDIER in particular.</p><p>“Not looking so hot there, Blondie.”</p><p>The boy started as though shaken from a reverie, lashes fluttering as he blinked away the haziness he’d been swimming in, and he looked up through the dishevelled spikes of his own hair at the sound of Reno’s voice. Recognition came first, followed swiftly by irritation that drenched over his fair features like a descending mist. He still looked to be in pain, eyes squinted and a plaintive edge to the kindling heat in his voice, “You, again.”</p><p>Rufus glanced between them both in sheer amusement, the tension thick enough he could almost touch it. Bad blood there, it seemed. He made a note to ensure he was provided with whatever information regarding prior encounters Reno had had with his Little Bird once the opportunity to put down his quarry for the evening was well-spent. If the blond had been tangling with his Turks already, he’d been a significant thorn in Shinra’s side on more than just this occasion. Information like that could prove beneficial.</p><p>“Me, again. Got a headache?” Reno slid his spare hand into his pocket as he slouched his weight onto a single hip, his mag-rod crackling threateningly at his shoulder, “I can help with that.”</p><p>“Not interested.” </p><p>The boy eased back up to what passed for his full height, gloved hand rubbing at his forehead like he was easing an ache. His dismissal was dryly delivered, veering into heavily sarcastic. How quaint. Maybe they’d met more than once.</p><p>“Yo, he’s still sassy, Boss. Want me to soften him up for you?” Nothing visibly changed about Reno’s countenance but for the way the air around him charged with an unseen current, eager to get started. He’d always been more than a little impatient when it came to carrying out orders, a serial fidgeter and hothead, preferring improvisation to any well-set plan, “Third time’s gotta be the charm.”</p><p>The blond was looking back and forth between them, the furrow at his brow getting deeper the more he realised how outmatched he was. Reno was crafty, quick, and ready to jump into the fray, while the boy was both injured and tired. Even without Rufus’ help, Reno had a bone to pick and that turned him ferocious when the need struck and if they’d fought before, there was no way the blond wasn’t already aware of his skill-set. The Turk was already leering at him, easing into a crouch that practically advertised he was ready to give chase on the given word.</p><p>That kind of tenacity deserved to be rewarded.</p><p>“Reno,” Rufus cast only the quickest of glances at the redhead, meeting his expectant gaze before setting his sights back where he preferred them, on the carefully retreating form of the SOLDIER edging back towards the offices. “I’ll take the status report on the other intruders after we’ve dealt with our current guest. Try to play nicely. I want him alive.”</p><p>“You got it, Boss.”</p><p>The blond spun on his heel, but Rufus still caught a satisfying glimpse of the dread that made him stagger as he turned to run.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this is me, making Rufus work for something for ONCE IN HIS LIFE, and you can hate me for it or whatever, but please know, I am tormenting myself as well... </p><p>Please take a cube of chocolate, and enjoy the ride!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Reno pounced as the blond turned to run, the heavy footfall of his boots launching him towards the windows of the office like the ground was giving way beneath him. The expected shattering of glass didn’t come as the boy dived inside, the window already smashed wide enough for him to pass through without incident and Reno followed swiftly, light on his feet in a way Rufus could admit still managed to surprise even him when he witnessed the redhead in action. He was taking this assignment more seriously than his usual professional capacity called for, it seemed, the pursuit turning from flight to immediate fight with a clash of metal, the echo of Reno’s excited taunting echoing back across the rooftop and the luminescent flash of his preferred element lighting up the black of the office almost immediately after the two swift silhouettes vanished into the darkness of the interior building.</p><p>Rufus gave them a few seconds head start, if only to collect himself before he swept up his thankfully undamaged last remaining gun from where he’d dropped it, and moved after them. The sounds of the scuffle didn’t seem to have made it out of the main office despite the blond’s hasty retreat, and as he stepped through the shattered remains of the ruined window, scattered glass crunching beneath his boots, he could see the shadowed figures dancing around each other in the dark near the main doors, bright crackles of blue electricity sparking between them from Reno’s mag-rod.</p><p>DarkStar’s whine from beneath the desk as she caught his scent was pitifully loud from where he stood, but he hushed her quiet as he moved around it to better watch his target move under pressure. He hadn’t had as much ample opportunity to observe as he’d liked when he had been under the same sort of scrutiny from the blond he’d set his sights on. Fighting him had been a challenge all it's own, but the simple pleasure of looking at him in motion was pure unpolished poetry. </p><p>He was a vision, even in the low light, even worn thin as he was. He still moved like a SOLDIER on a mission, crude effectiveness and nimble grace, but Rufus could see his blocks turning sloppy, his return strikes missing the acute edge he’d had before DarkStar had fallen in their fight. The boy certainly wasn’t pulling his punches through any sort of fatigue, though. He seemed prickly in a way that suggested he was all too aware that he was wearing down and he didn’t like it, and the moves he did make looked all the more savage for it. The beautiful artless descent of a hammer caught in gravity. </p><p>Letting Reno tire the boy out would be the best thing. His Turks were well trained even if they'd been a little under-utilised recently, and Reno was uncannily aware of the lines he could skirt even with such a vaguely worded order. Alive, Rufus had said. Alive and unspoiled went unmentioned, but Reno heard it perfectly. It might take some time, but the redhead would snuff out what little spark of energy the Little Bird had left and when he could no longer fight, no longer run, only then would Rufus sweep the boy up and keep him.</p><p>His arms near ached to close around his prize, already. </p><p>“Come on, baby, you can do better than that!” Reno’s bright laugh was exhilarated as the blond let out a loud grunt of pain, stumbling away from the painful drag of the mag-rod, the sizzle of flesh sounding like a hiss as electrified metal glanced off the back of the boys upper arm, “Not so tough now, are you, SOLDIER-boy?”</p><p>The wide blade came up just a second too late as Reno fell back out of reach, toying a little too carelessly with his opponent like he was having the best time of his admittedly hectic life, mag rod lighting up the blond’s sword as if he were making a teasing toast between weapons.</p><p>“Can you please. Shut. Up.”</p><p>The SOLDIER’s voice was edged with annoyance now as he lifted his sword high only to bring it down hard, planting the sharpened tip deep into the tile of the office floor with a resounding crack, ripping straight through the edge of the carpet. Reno looked briefly confused, ready to taunt him for the move as he pushed back in for another attack, but he was too close to see the signs and the blond was quick to surprise him, using the stable upright handle as a pivot to spin himself up into the air. </p><p>Reno lost the breath in his lungs as both of the boy’s heavy duty boots collided firmly with the redhead’s sternum in a solid kick, sending him flying back with such speed and force he nearly struck the front of the presidential desk. Instead, he was lucky enough to hit the floor on his back with a winded curse as the blond pulled his sword free, the glow of his eyes in the dark flickering over to Rufus with the wariness of a spooked animal. The boy’s hand was fumbling behind him at the door handles as he backed up into them, tense as a bowstring until he finally gave in, turning impatiently to kick the doors open so he could escape into the building proper. </p><p>“Get up, Reno.” Rufus was already moving to follow, nudging at his subordinate with his foot in passing as the boy fled down the hallway, the pale gold of his hair vanishing from sight all too quickly. The heavy wooden doors at the opposite end of the hall surrendered much more gracefully under the blond’s hand than his boot, swinging wide as he darted to the side and out of sight, no doubt tumbling down the stairs faster than he could jump them into the open reception hall of the executive suite. Only in favour of property damage where necessary, it seemed. </p><p>“Ow,” Reno wheezed out, rolling over onto his forearms, coughing weakly before he managed to stumble from his knees to his feet, shaking the hit off in a way that looked frankly ridiculous, “Kid packs a mean punch.”</p><p>Beneath the rasp of aching bones and the pain of taking an enhanced hit to the chest, there was begrudging admiration in that tone, and while Rufus would appreciate it any other time, his Little Bird was in the wind, and he was not happy about it.</p><p>“You should know by now not to play with your food.” </p><p>A sharp smile was enough for Reno to know that it was all in good jest for the moment, but Rufus knew the redhead had been watching them fight on the rooftop, had witnessed the careful way he had orchestrated their dance to deliberately put hands on the blond. It wouldn’t be a hard stretch for Reno to try hard to envision the displeasure Rufus would be inclined to express if the boy managed to get out before they could restrain him.</p><p>Rufus felt the need to make it clear, regardless, cocking his gun sharply as they moved in tandem towards the doors. </p><p>The dark hallway outside the office was faintly glowing when they reached it, some sort of wastage staining the carpet and splashed across the floor that pulsed a deeply disturbing purple light. Rufus kept a safe distance as he moved around it as a precaution. There were too many stories about the experiments conducted in Shinra’s labs to be cavalier about anything that looked that suspicious, and Reno seemed to agree, edging around the odd puddles of luminescence with as much, if not more care. The Turk was quick to take point as he swept towards the open doors at the other end of the narrow corridor, clearing the open space to either side, before he moved to the balustrade overlooking the hall. Reconnaissance was something the redhead prided himself on the few times he managed to outfox his partner on mission, even if he was generally as stealthy as a herd of rampaging chocobo.  </p><p>“”Hey, now, where do you think you’re going?” The redhead’s voice carried well on the silent upper floor, more than proving the point, his tone perking noticeably with feigned cordiality, “Oh, brought a friend, did ya? I remember you…”</p><p>Rufus made it to the railings just in time to witness Reno scramble up on top of them, ready to jump into the fray. Their flighty blond target was a bright spot of colour in the drab marble suite foyer below, sword sheathed as if their little dance was over. </p><p>He wasn’t alone. </p><p>Both of his surprisingly small gloved hands were curled around the shoulders of a feisty looking brunette woman, bare inches between them as if they’d just pulled back from a quick embrace. Pretty, with long dark hair, a lovely face, and from the steel toe boots and the materia glowing in the wrists of her combat ready gloves, she seemed very capable of dealing some damage on her own terms. Rufus recognised her as one of the rooftop compatriots the blond had put himself in danger for, to secure the escape of the strange group he’d been running with. That she alone had decided to come back and help, that she cared that much... </p><p>Unacceptable.</p><p>If the sight of them in each other’s arms was enough to ignite his already short possessive fuse, the realisation that it might mean something more than simple camaraderie turned that fuse into the kind of smouldering ash that preceded a wildfire, and Rufus felt his fingers close sharply around the grip of his gun until they ached. </p><p>It was only the weight of bright mako eyes snapping to him in anxious unease that stopped Rufus from promising her a bullet then and there. The boy was looking at him like he could sense his intent, moving ever so carefully in front of the woman to shield her from any fatal blow Rufus might deliver on her, darting his gaze between the Turk that would hunt them down and the distant threat of a firearm. The woman didn’t notice him moving to cover her at all, lurching forward in the blond’s tightening grasp to glare up at Reno as he leapt down upon them both, barely concealed wrath burning in her expressive crimson eyes. </p><p>“You have the nerve to show your face, after what you did to Sector 7!” Her voice was thick with choking emotion as she raised her gloved fists with practiced poise, marching forward in impassioned grief as Reno descended towards the unlikely pair, only to stumble to a halt as her wrist was snatched, the boy dragging her bodily out of the way before she could intercept their attacker.</p><p>“Tifa, we have to go!” The frantic urgency in the boy’s voice as Reno rolled smoothly across the floor and up onto his feet again made something in Rufus purr. Now, that was a sound he could get used to. The sweet intoxication of panic. </p><p>“Job’s a job, sweetcheeks. I kicked in your front door, you kicked in mine.” Reno spread his hands in a mockery of a bow, his weapon idly hanging from his wrist in a way that was supposed to seem nonthreatening, but everyone in the room knew better, “Why don’t we all go back upstairs like civilised people, and talk about our feelings, huh?”</p><p>“Civilised?” The disgust in her voice sounded fractured with pain, and the blond pushed her back as Reno sidled closer, sizing them both up with cunning green eyes, “Like you’d know what that means! Do you have any soul at all? Or, is carrying the weight of one too inconvenient?”</p><p>Reno straightened like he’d been struck, one dramatic hand lifting to splay over the bare skin of his chest like he was offended. It would have been almost theatrical, but for how his fingers curled in readiness around the handle of his baton, the movement so smooth it was almost unnoticeable. His head tilted sharply, and the sly, feline way he held himself almost radiated menace, the softness of his voice tumbling like silk as he moved closer, “Feeling a little reckless today, aren’t we?”</p><p>“Tifa!” The boy clutched to the brunette at her elbows instead of her shoulders until she turned to look at him, and Rufus moved along the rails of the upper floor to keep them in sight as they began to shuffle back towards the main hallway beneath the presidential office, prompted by the SOLDIER’s urgent prodding, “He’s deliberately stalling us until backup gets up here to pen us in. We have to leave, now.”</p><p>The woman, Tifa, seemed torn between the urge to fight and the urge to run, stumbling backwards after the blond as he tugged at her, but unwilling to turn her back on Reno who prowled after them, green eyes shifting between the two like he was deciding who he would rather catch. </p><p>It was a simple choice, really. </p><p>The woman was considerable leverage all by herself. The SOLDIER was to be captured unharmed, and seemed unwilling to risk his companion’s safety. She was the quickest way to complete the task at hand, and from the way the blond moved in front of her, hand clasped around the handle of the sword magnetised to his back, he wasn’t unaware of it. </p><p>“Back off, Turk.” </p><p>Reno clicked his tongue like he was scolding a child.</p><p>“But, we were getting on so well, Blondie...”</p><p>The shock of loud gunfire echoed around the vaulted chamber like a firework, Rufus taking the opportunity to aim while he had a clear shot, and his coveted prey was suitably distracted. He had only aimed to disable. The boy would be less likely to leave the woman behind if she were still alive, and even if it chafed at him to injure her instead of closing her presumptuous pretty eyes forever, the goal was still the same. Capture, not kill. No matter how much he wanted to put her down so finally that she couldn’t return any embrace the blond deemed her worthy of.</p><p>The boy swung his sword between the girl and the bullet just in time to send it spiralling up into the dark, close enough that Rufus needed to dodge to avoid getting hit by it, and the crack of it digging into marble was loud enough to shock their two runaways into motion. Reno cursed and gave chase, the three of them disappearing under the balustrade until Rufus could no longer see them, the rapid fall of their footsteps filling up the silence like pounding drums. </p><p>A dull thud, and Reno’s squawk of alarm echoed in the more narrow darkness of the hallway, the sound of the Turk hitting the ground almost as loud as the crackle of solidifying magic that filtered cold through the air immediately after.</p><p>Rufus tried to clear the stairs quickly, too much armour in his coat to jump safely like Reno had but it was still too late, the sliding glass doors to the executive suite melded together in a thick, rather impressive coating of ice by the time he was anywhere near close enough to strike. The woman, Tifa, was still pouring more magic into it even as he approached, sealing the doors shut as swiftly as she could. Reno was sitting up from his crumpled position against the nearest wall, rubbing at his head like he’d taken a hard hit. That he rolled a cure out over his fingers to deal with the damage was enough to testify that whoever had struck him, they weren’t messing around. </p><p>Rufus would put money on the brunette, though either option was as likely. </p><p>The glass was bulletproof, so there was no point shooting at it. The blond was on the opposite side of it, close enough to touch if the barrier between them wasn’t so obstinate, and Rufus moved closer, enough to see his breath fog from the cold of the ice as it grew, spreading like a thick glittering paste out from the point the woman was focussing on. </p><p>The boy looked back at him through the frosted glass with quiet confidence, sword braced at his back, the lovely lithe muscle of his arms on prominent display, folded across his chest as they were. It did nothing to conceal the nervousness beneath, uncomfortable little shifts in his body betraying the evenness of his stare. He didn’t look happy, eyes darting away to his friend and back to Rufus like he’d rather be anywhere but where he was, and Rufus stepped closer to the glass to soak it up, to bask in it. The boy didn’t cower, mako eyes flaring brightly as they locked onto him like gentle prey sensing a predator in their midst, holding his ground even as Rufus allowed himself a slow leisurely scan of his prize to remind himself of what he was chasing, ignoring the torture of being close enough to touch and yet, unable. </p><p>No one had ever dared refuse him so blatantly before. Never in words, never in deeds. That this pretty thing continued to refuse was as refreshing as it was infuriating.</p><p>The boy was truly a trophy most worthy of a grand chase. One to be conquered and kept</p><p>And, if he was as untouched as he suspected, there would be much satisfaction to be found in the conquering.</p><p>Rufus let every measure of want he could summon seep into the sweep of his gaze until it was heat-laden and invasive, until he could see the SOLDIER’s breath catch under the burn of it, chest stilling like the air was captured in his lungs and unable to breathe itself loose. The simple thought of dragging this gorgeous creature down into bindings until he could do nothing but squirm, and cry, and even beg for things he didn’t know he needed, curled a smile so darkly lecherous over his lips that the girl beside the SOLDIER suddenly seemed far more eager to leave as she spotted it, her hands clutching around the boy’s metal gauntlet after she’d exhausted her magic, tugging at him in a strange reversal of what had come before. </p><p>Rufus didn’t let her distract him, eyes fixed on the blond as he raised his gun to the glass, targeting the thinnest layer of ice and launching three bullets into the small area in quick succession. As expected, the first did nothing, striking the ice and embedding itself while the other two did their work, a few silent seconds passing before the tell-tale signs of weakness began to spread, sharp cracks splintering out across the ice until the door started to splinter with it, the cold of the magic making the bulletproof coating brittle and just a step above useless.</p><p>Realisation was a budding flower in bloom, both of the pretty faces of Shinra’s guests turning from wary trepidation to horror in as many seconds as it took Rufus to summon his fire to aid in the dismantling of their defences. Their eyes were so wide, so round, little rabbits in their traps as they both backed away from the doors together, a particularly loud fracture in the glass making the girl jump until her lips shaped words of pleading that he couldn’t make out.</p><p>“Fly, Little Bird,” Rufus murmured through the sharp edges of glass beginning to cave under the weight of the ice they’d layered over it, watching the boy give in to Tifa’s dragging, turning to leap down the stairs with her in tow, making for the elevators, “Fly, while you still can.”</p><p>Rufus didn’t turn away until the retreating pair were out of sight, backing up the safe few steps needed to launch as much firepower from both his gun and his fire materia as he could muster into the door until it shattered completely, showering frost like diamond dust over the devastation that littered the floor. </p><p>Reno waited patiently behind him until he was done, and as he turned to head back to his office, Rufus levelled his subordinate with an unimpressed stare.</p><p>“It’s a very special day, Reno. I expect a very special gift.”</p><p>The firm nod he received in response was respectful enough that he waved the Turk on with little ceremony.</p><p>“Don’t fail me again.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WE'RE GOING ON A CLOUD-HUNT, A BOY-HUNT, A BLOND-HUNT! </p><p>Rufus, find his goddamn file already so I can use his actual name, please and thank you. Jeez, it's like working with real people...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, we're hanging out with a duplicitous redhead this chapter, and while I will do my best not to make him too annoying, we all know who we're dealing with so how successful could I be at that, really? I'll let you be the judge...</p><p>CLOUD, QUIT DILLY-DALLYING. THIS CHAPTER'S OVER 5,000 WORDS. GET YOUR MOSEY ON!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Blondie and his punchy little friend were long gone by the time Reno managed to figure out which elevator they’d hijacked. That they’d had a few minutes to summon more than one, and press a bunch of buttons before he could catch up was a real headache, but not one he couldn’t handle. They could be as crafty as they wanted, but they were still on home turf. Something that he hoped would be more advantageous to himself, than to SOLDIER-boy. </p><p>‘Knew I should have looked him up before he became this much of a pain in my ass,’ Reno leaned his head against the cool wall of the metal elevator and slammed a hand over the button that would take him down to the office, his mag-rod bouncing off the elevator rail with the force of it.</p><p>The basement levels were a trip too far in his opinion, giving the intruders too much time to escape, but there were a couple of things that he needed that were mission critical if he was to have any chance of success. Thankfully, being a Turk came with privileges, and specific passcodes and security clearance ensured his descent wouldn’t be interrupted by any infantry patrols, or employees working the late shift.</p><p>Tseng would be shuffling his priorities by now, would no doubt head straight up to personally guard the new President of Shinra, and Reno knew he had to make good on his reputation to deliver a pretty blond package before the night was out, or he’d be stuck on desk duty doing paperwork for at least a month.</p><p>He hated paperwork. So much.</p><p>The elevator dropped him directly in front of the General Affairs office with a far too chirpy little bell toll for how late at night it was, and he held the door open to carefully survey his whereabouts before he stepped out of it. There was a laughably low risk of either of his targets making it so far down in the elevator that they could take the scenic view of the basement levels, even if they knew where the Turks office was, but it didn’t stop him checking the empty hallway anyway. Assumption was the quickest way to earning an ass-kicking, and Reno didn’t like to deliberately invite those unless he was in the mood. </p><p>The coast seemed clear, but he didn’t waste time, crossing the corridor in the few steps needed with his keycard ready to swipe, and the 7 digit entry code on the tips of his fingers, sliding inside and closing the door immediately after he slipped through it. </p><p>Better to be smart, than sorry.</p><p>It was unusual to see the office empty.</p><p>B3, and more specifically, the General Affairs office, was as much home as the shitty little apartment he barely spent any time in just outside Sector 0. Sure he dropped gil on it, just in case he needed a place to lay low or get out for a while, but he wasn’t alone in that. The limited circle of the Turks all preferred to spend their time in Shinra Tower, collectively treading on each other’s toes to keep the quiet at bay, rather than facing the grim reality of going home to listen to their individual guilty conscience. Nights could get long with only that lullaby to feign sleep through, those nagging little voices always seeming so much louder when there was no one there to share the load.</p><p>Well, unless you were alone in a room with Tseng. Man was a psychopath.</p><p>Balancing scales? Right. Still murder.</p><p>Reno huffed out a sigh, rubbing at his head where he swore he could still feel the indent of Tifa’s knuckles despite the cure he’d cast. She’d had a point, not that he wanted to listen to it, but he had spoken the truth. A job was a job, and it was his job to get the job done. Like right now. Tracking down Blondie and pals, when he’d literally prefer to be doing anything else. Reno trudged around the edge of the room, eyes cutting plaintively to his favourite lounging sofa as he passed it. No time to kick back just yet, but the next best thing was as close to perfection as he could touch right now.</p><p>The throne behind the desk was black, and large, and crafted from soft buttery leather, all gleaming silver steel, non squeaky wheels and a reclining option that felt like being suspended in clouds. He’d been hauled out of it by his ear before for taking liberties with chairs he had no right to sit in, but it had still been totally worth it. Tseng’s unimpressed face and his usual face were pretty similar in the grand scheme of things, so it was tantamount to being spanked with a rolled up newspaper.</p><p>Right now, though? Needs must, and all that?</p><p>Reno hesitated all of a single second. </p><p>Having a reason to settle into Tseng’s cushy supervillain swivel chair was almost like letting pets on the sofa. You weren’t supposed to do it, but the first time you were allowed? How could you not? </p><p>He was a responsible adult about it, only allowing himself a couple of smooth rotations, head whirling from staring directly at the ceiling as he spun, before he dragged himself in towards the curved cradle of the desk, and let the world come back into focus.</p><p>He wasn’t here just to fuck around, after all. Wanted fugitives were high priority stuff, and given that no one outside of AVALANCHE had been ballsy enough to successfully infiltrate the tower before, it would be best to deal with the first wave so harshly that the second rethought their actions before they enacted them. Prevention was better than cure, and those audacious little terrorists were in for some hurting, once their whereabouts were common knowledge.</p><p>He’d almost feel sorry for them, if they weren’t so annoying to deal with. </p><p>As things were, the Turks unsanctioned drone system would be the easiest way to get things done. </p><p>Or, maybe it would be sanctioned now, with Rufus in charge? He’d been the one to help implement it during their attempted coup some years ago. His clearance level kept the finance smuggling and theft of tech off the books, and it remained one of the biggest secrets they’d had after the Turks had pledged their loyalty to Rufus, instead of his father. The whole network had been kept fully operational after Rufus had been carted off to Junon, allowing him to keep tabs on any and all workings in the building during his absence.</p><p>It had only been needed for emergencies in the past, used sparingly to avoid suspicion or detection, but with Rufus now in charge, there was no one who ranked high enough to cause any issues. That, and the only other option was something Reno would rather not subject himself to. </p><p>Mayor Domino had governance of the main building’s cameras, but he was daft enough for it to be contagious, and Reno did not feel like being stupid today. It also didn’t help that he was about as loyal to Shinra as that creep Professor Hojo, so his surveillance couldn’t be trusted. Reno wouldn’t put it past the man to have willingly assisted AVALANCHE on their magical mystery tour through the building in the first place. They were hardly the most cautious of intruders and the alarms would have been tripped long before now if he hadn’t. </p><p>The old coot of a Mayor was definitely shifty. It’d take the work of an hour at most to prove it.</p><p>Reno eased into the embrace of soft leather for the few minutes needed to boot up the system and switch controls to the portable device Tseng kept under the false bottom in the locked drawer of his desk. It was a little finicky, but he’d practiced it enough that he could probably do it blindfolded. A quick stop off at the weapons cabinet to pocket a nasty looking tranquiliser gun and the special case of darts he needed to load it with, and then he was on the move again, dragging mournful fingers across the pristine leather arm of the chair before he had to leave. </p><p>The office was sealed up like a fortress behind him, and as he juggled the various wires and devices to set up the required network, he absently swiped his all-access keycard into the elevators to take him a couple of floors above ground level to ensure he could cut off any escape attempts at the knees. Level 5 sounded reasonable. There was no way Heidegger’s grunts would have let a security threat like a rogue SOLDIER take an easy ride down to ground level, just to let them swan out of the front doors.</p><p>Except, Heidegger was exactly that kind of stupid.</p><p>Reno huffed, one gloved hand raising to pinch the bridge of his nose in vain hope. Better to stop on Level 3. Besides, he could always go up further to intercept what was sure to be an entertaining escape attempt if they weren’t as far down as he assumed, and the higher up they were, the better. There would be no telling what kind of crazy thoughts Blondie would entertain in his desperation to get out if he got too close to the ground floor. He could potentially turn any smashable window into a fire exit.</p><p>The system loaded with a quiet hum onto the tech in his hand, and after two decryption codes and a recently updated exhausting password that had initially taken him a solid 48 hours to remember, Reno tucked away his mag-rod to focus on the delicate work needed to pin down the SOLDIER’S movements.</p><p>The screen was small, but his eyes were keen as he scanned over the list of drones booting up down the left hand side of the device. The upper floor surveillance wouldn’t be needed at all which made things much simpler. SOLDIER-boy wanted out, so he’d have to go down, and regardless of however much progress he’d made with his likely pilfered access card, Reno intended for him to find company on his way. </p><p>The small controls were sensitive, easily twitched as he settled on the third floor, only moving far enough away from the elevators to find a seat he could leave at a moment’s notice if he needed to. None of the administrators working late would bother him, if there were any still lingering out of the allotted safe zones. </p><p>Civilians liked to avoid the Turks when they had the choice.</p><p>He didn’t blame them. It was rare that the choice was left in their hands.</p><p>The drones on the sixth floor were awake and actively searching, feeding significant chunks of data and live video feed back to his handheld, and he sifted through it with deft fingers over the small buttons. Rude always had trouble with trying to operate the system. Large hands, more adept at violence despite the fact that he was actually a giant teddy-bear, tended to make slow work on machines as fussy as their personal surveillance, and that was something the Turks were not in the business of. </p><p>Dark hallways started to meld into one another as Reno swiftly worked his way down through the broad spread of the building levels, scanning the elevators for body heat in passing, and skirting around the mostly empty employee areas. The majority of the lower level workers would be home for the night or locked up in the emergency safe rooms while the SOLDIER’s took up the perimeter to prevent escape and the Infantry scoured the halls for intruders. </p><p>It made his work a little easier that there wasn’t a mass exodus in the hallways.</p><p>“Where are ya, Blondie?” The delicate little controls shifted with a brush of his fingers, sweeping 360 degree angles of each floor as he switched from drone to drone, security camera to security camera, all in the hopes of catching a little bit of movement that shouldn’t be there, a little flash of gold in passing. Patrols of troopers in their bland fatigues and washed out helmets were thankfully colourless enough that Blondie couldn’t have posed as one if he tried.</p><p>He didn’t expect to find anything on his current floor, but it would have been nice to be in the right place at the right time. A shame, but he kept scanning for anything suspicious. </p><p>SOLDIER-boy and company hadn’t caused enough of a ruckus to have managed to get out of the building already, and it wasn’t like they were particularly sneaky. Reno already had them pegged as dramatic types so all he needed was a sign. He didn’t know what kind, but he’d bet money on some overly grand gesture to loudly announce their departure, some gaudy blaze of glory, and if the kid hadn’t made it to anything below the tenth floor, then he was either a unique breed of moron, or he was trying to play a long game by outfoxing the foxes in their own bloodied hen-house.</p><p>Reno was going to lean heavily in favour of ‘moron’.</p><p>On the second floor, there was an unexpected rumble of humming feedback that was hard to determine through the tiny but powerful speakers. It was like a baseline, too low to identify, but loud enough to overwhelm. Reno couldn’t find where it was coming from but it grew slightly louder as he dropped another floor, and louder still as he switched to the drone lingering idly near the overview of the main lobby.</p><p>Surely they weren’t headed for the main exit. </p><p>But then, on the other hand, if everybody expected them to be too smart for that, wouldn’t that be exactly where he’d find them?</p><p>Reno maneuvered the drone out of the side room and over to the stair railing until the camera could focus over the entirety of the open hall, trying to pick up an exact location for the sound so he could identify it as he made his way back to his selected elevator, poking distractedly at the buttons that could take him to the floor above the building entrance. He did intend to check and prime his weapon on the way, but something else caught his eye that he was not anticipating.</p><p>“Oh? What’s this?”</p><p>Pink. </p><p>Not just any pink. A specific shade of pink. </p><p>A specific shade of pink that belonged in the labs under strict observation. </p><p>Everything suddenly made so much sense.</p><p>That Aerith was out from under Hojo’s thumb, and almost immediately after Tseng had put her there meant that the infiltration of Shinra Tower was less orchestrated and more retaliatory. SOLDIER-boy and his gang had barrelled up like behemoths into the most guarded building in Midgar, attempting to accomplish the impossible, all to rescue a friend. It was almost hilarious. No plan. No hope. Just that sickening tender-hearted belief that what they were doing was right.</p><p>“Tch,” Reno slouched back against the wall of the elevator with a faint laugh, sending the drone high to better see what was going on with the rest of the room, “I’ll never understand you hero types…”</p><p>The Ancient was cornered against the reception desk in the main lobby surrounded by Infantry troopers, some strange sort of hybrid wolf at her side and- </p><p>“That’s some poor company to keep, Princess.” Reno clucked his tongue, the drone zooming in on the man he’d fought at Blondie’s side on the Sector 7 pillar before the plate dropped. He really was huge, a swell of dark muscle, shorn hair cropped severely to lend an air of seriousness to an already stern face behind dark glasses. The decent looking gun in place of his right lower arm was raised in Heidegger’s direction, his other hand ushering Aerith behind him like he could stop the headstrong girl from swinging her magic stick at anyone who got in her way.</p><p>The elevator doors opened on his desired floor, where the noise seemed even more present, and Reno kept low as he crept out to circle around to where he needed to be for the best view. A few Infantry soldiers were scattered about, weapons clutched to their chests like they were waiting on orders, but they acknowledged his seniority with something like relief, and backed up out of his way as he approached. It was easy enough from there to press his back to the wall by the railings overlooking the main foyer, the drone above feeding back anything he couldn’t see from his own vantage point.</p><p>It looked like he’d made it just in time too, Heidegger throwing his orders around with his signature ham-fisted clumsiness that ended with weapons levelling up at the unusual group in a way that threatened the Ancient’s safety. Was he a fucking idiot? He knew how important she was! Reno could barely suppress his fit of pique at all his hours of guard duty, potentially wasted, because Tseng’s pet project was about to get shot by accident in their own building. </p><p>He was only prevented from breaking his cover to do something about it when the rattling hum of constant approaching noise through his network device became even louder, echoing in real time around the floor like it was coming from everywhere at once. It sounded like it was closing in fast, finally drawing the attention of Heidegger and his squadron of armed imbeciles as they stared up at the higher levels, loaded weapons waving in worrying circles with their lack of focus. </p><p>Reno spared the Ancient another concerned glance, before he turned his attention to the feedback crackling through the system in his hand, dialling the volume down lower as it clamoured into the rip-roar of a revved engine. </p><p>The culprit in question burst out from the far corridor a few seconds later, a glossy looking motorbike catching the dim lights as it launched itself from the balcony and into the air over the stunned heads of everyone below, the bright spark of gold on the back of it drawing the redhead’s eye like a beacon.</p><p>“Well, I’ll be damned...” Reno let out a low whistle as Blondie aced the landing, knocking a few foolish troopers on their ass when they failed to move in time, tyre marks skidding across the floor like smudged ink. It only took the kid a few seconds to get his bearings, and then he was off again, the guttural purr of the bike’s engine ramped up to make as much noise as he could manage, drawing attention from Aerith and her odd companions.</p><p>Watching the SOLDIER rip through Heidegger’s infantry unit like tissue paper was an unexpected delight. Reno had never liked the man, so any chance to see him practically helpless and frothing with rage was never an opportunity to be missed, and he had to admit, even though he was a brat, the SOLDIER knew how to handle a bike. </p><p>Looked a little too good doing it, too. </p><p>The Daytona was polished to gleaming between his thighs, probably an exhibition from one of the showrooms, and he looked small on the back of it, but the kid steered the monster of a machine like he’d tamed it to his will.</p><p>The troopers trying and failing to shoot him down were getting mowed like grass, the heavy weight of the bike doing most of the work as Blondie skirted it around the room in a half circle, the tips of his fragile little fingers dragging across the marble floor for balance, taking out anyone who turned their guns on the truck that crashed into the foyer like it had a grudge. That he hadn’t been hit yet by anything was embarrassing, the blond smashing through their infantry defences without so much as breaking a sweat. </p><p>Okay, so it was hot. </p><p>Kid was cute when he wasn’t being an asshole, and he was doing some pretty amazing things. He had that going for him.</p><p>Rufus sure knew how to pick ‘em.</p><p>Reno kept one eye on the Ancient, thankfully unharmed, and her ragtag crew as they bundled into the ugly little mint green vehicle that Tifa had hijacked from the show hall, but they weren’t his priority for the time being. Tseng could throw a fit later, but Bossman wanted one thing, and one thing only. </p><p>Blondie was drawing all the attention like a seasoned little show-off, turning years of perfected gunfire into amateur hour on the building’s glass doors and windows. Rufus wasn’t going to like that, but he could take it out of the kid’s hide after he was trussed up and delivered to the new President of Shinra for the whipping he so sorely needed. </p><p>If all went to plan, Reno figured the gratification of a job well done might just make him feel brave enough to ask if he could watch.</p><p>Either way, it was worth being the one assigned to take the SOLDIER down just for the pleasure of being present when the kid drove head-on towards the Director of Public Security in a blaze of screeching tires on marble. The drone swept in close enough to immortalise the blanch of horror beneath that ugly beard, and how close Heidegger came to kissing rubber as Blondie wedged his sword into the ground to kick the weight of his bike into the air in a move that made his chest ache. Reno rubbed at his ribs, the echoing pain of boots connecting with his rib cage a little too present for his liking. </p><p>Must have been a Blondie speciality.</p><p>Reno backed up with haste, turning to bolt down the hallway on his right as the SOLDIER redirected his bike to the stairs, the truck following behind. They wouldn’t go the other way, that would bury them deeper in the building. </p><p>The sound of gunfire behind him and increasing growl of the bike as Blondie took out the troopers he’d left behind gave Reno the chance to skirt through the open glass door and conceal himself behind the wall beside it. Looked like another showroom. Well-lit vintage vehicles artfully displayed on ostentatious little pedestals were spaced out around the floor, back-dropped by the wide open stretch of windows. </p><p>Reno had to give it to the kid. The view from this particular room led down onto the raised expressway, an escape route so well planned out that he’d pat SOLDIER-boy on the back for being such a smart cookie, if he wasn’t about to foil said plan so spectacularly that any achievement AVALANCHE made tonight would be overshadowed by deep regret.</p><p>Reno set the network device down on the floor in the corner, and pulled out the vicious looking tranquiliser gun. It only looked like more of a nightmare when he opened the little black case that came with it, three gleaming silver darts strapped safely inside. Even though the little compressed glass vials were mostly surrounded by metal, the poisonous glow of its contents were bright enough to light his skin in sickly green as Reno loaded up the first dart into the gun.</p><p>He knew better than to handle that stuff any longer than he needed to.</p><p>The roar of approaching engines prompted the redhead to press even further into the dark corner, concealing his glowing weapon as Blondie and his crew breezed right past Reno’s hiding spot and into the open floor space of the room like sitting ducks, only one terrified infantryman between them and the stretch of window that led to freedom. </p><p>There was a moment when everything in the room stopped, nothing but the gentle screech of brakes and the rolling purr of the bike before the kid reached up to unsheathe his sword, slowly dragging the length of it along the metal magnet, and Reno realised Blondie was trying to scare the man in front of him to move out of the way of his own free will. He wouldn’t. The trooper was intimidated, but in the end, he had been trained by Shinra. He had also seen Reno enter the room, though he didn’t dare look at him now, too afraid to risk alerting the intruders of his presence.</p><p>Cowardice was something you never wanted the Turks to pull you up on. Ever.</p><p>SOLDIER-boy firmed his grip over the handlebars of the bike when he realised the threat wouldn’t be enough, gloved fingers tightening over the throttle until the sound of it was enough to make the trooper quake with his back to the glass. Still, he held his ground, and Blondie responded to the display of courage, bracing the bike with one rubber sole on the floor as he spun it in a tight circle until he had enough swing to launch his freshly drawn blade like an arrow.</p><p>The sword cut into the glass inches from the troopers head like a warm knife carving through butter, the sharpened tip of it extending a good foot beyond the pane, fine little cracks circling out like a spider’s web along the length and breadth of the window. The frightened infantryman was ashen beneath his helmet as he scurried frantically out of the way with a muted squeak, but Blondie paid him no mind, bracing himself down over the back of his bike with a nod to his companions to follow him out, revving his bike engine until the idling purr of it kicked into an agitated roar. Black marks tarnished the marble of the floor and he released the brakes, racing towards the compromised window, beckoning the odd looking truck after him.</p><p>Kid had balls. There was no doubt about that.</p><p>It wouldn’t be enough to save him, though.</p><p>Reno rolled his shoulders until he was comfortable with his aim, raising the pistol loaded with the dart of vicious green liquid until he could line up the shot. The trigger was stiff, unused as it was, but the projectile flew with all the accuracy he expected of it, a viridescent point of light as it split the air, followed by his eyes alone. </p><p>It landed needle deep in the back of the SOLDIER’s neck, and the redhead watched with no small amount of satisfaction as that compact little body seized, back arching to try and escape the scalding burn of it, gloved hands releasing the handlebars to find and pull the needle out as he lost his balance. </p><p>The mako dart was a swift injection, immediate upon impact and the vial was empty in the few seconds it took Blondie to weaken under it, toppling from the back of his bike, and rolling across the floor to a stop where he curled up around himself with a quiet wheeze of pain. The reinforced armour at the head of the Daytona struck the window like a battering ram, smashing the fractured glass into splinters and sending the impressive looking sword tumbling after it as it fell, sheer weight plummeting down into the dark below.</p><p>The green truck was going too fast to stop, and Reno moved further into the room until they could see him, gracing the motley crew with a lazy salute as they continued on their predetermined course, the garble of their affronted yelling streaming out behind them like ribbons as they soared through the window and into the air. Their landing was barely safer than a crash on the elevated section of the expressway when he got close enough to look down on them, but they seemed to be in one piece. </p><p>The brakes screeched as the truck ground to an immediate halt, the doors to the front cabin thrown wide as Tifa and the Ancient tumbled out of the vehicle with what he was sure was horror written across their pretty features. The eyes of all aboard were gazing up towards the window in alarm, but Reno merely turned his back. </p><p>They’d be under attack any second if they chose to stay, and while that would solve so many problems, it wouldn’t really matter. </p><p>If they were forced to flee, Tseng would hunt them down to bring Aerith back into Shinra’s custody, or if they chose to stay to try and save their precious little blond damsel, they were without the heavy hitter in the muscle of their team, and it wouldn’t take much to overwhelm them.</p><p>In conclusion, they’d already lost. </p><p>They just didn’t know it yet.</p><p>Reno sauntered over to the mildly convulsing body on the floor, the kid’s gloved fingers scrabbling at the cool marble like he was reaching for something to hold on to. Blondie’s face was a perfect picture of misery as he bit down hard on his own lip to stifle the whimpering in his throat, pretty eyes clenched shut until his cheeks flushed from the effort, freckles standing out in sharp relief. The back of his neck was a violent pulsing green web of veins from the dart’s entry site. </p><p>Mako had always been the best way to floor a SOLDIER. Their immunity could be hit and miss, depending on how much of a sadist their chosen doctor was, but one thing was always certain. Mako transfusions were their worst nightmare. The sickness, the aching, the fever. Sometimes the delirium escalated to memory loss or other interesting little bits and pieces. It was all dependent on class, and exposure. </p><p>The mako intolerance in this one had to be high for a shot that small to do so much damage.</p><p>Reno expected at least a little bit of fight, was prepared for it when he moved close enough to crouch at the kid’s side, fisting a hand into the blond mess of the SOLDIER’s hair to yank his head up and get a good look at him. To his surprise, there was no resistance at all. From the looks of things, the boy didn't even have the focus needed to try and take a swing at him, hanging from his grip like he had no strength to pull away, lips parted just enough for every breath he drew to sound wounded.</p><p>Reno gave him a little shake, just for good measure.</p><p>“You gave me a run for my money, I’ll give you that, sweetheart.”</p><p>It was child’s play to roll him over, kicking the trembling body onto his back, and looking him over for additional weapons. He looked so much smaller without the sword, without the posturing. Just a scrawny boy playing dress-up.</p><p>Reno snapped his fingers at the trooper sitting frozen against the unbroken length of window, and the man started like he’d been electrocuted, leaping to his feet and snapping a sharp salute as if he hadn’t absolutely failed to do his job a few minutes earlier. The Turk ignored him for the moment, slipping the tranquiliser gun back into its harness, before sliding his now empty hands under the curve of the boy’s back, and beneath his knees, scooping the surprisingly light weight of him up off the floor.</p><p>At least he wouldn’t break his back carrying his limp body back up sixty-odd stories.</p><p>The blond’s head lolled back against Reno’s shoulder with a pained groan, and his eyelashes fluttered, the blue-green burn of his eyes flashing brighter before they closed again, the unhappy frown across his lips settling into a thin line of discomfort as the kid finally passed out, the clench of seizing muscles easing even as he continued to spasm in the aftershocks. </p><p>“You,” Reno adjusted his grip around the boy in his arms and forced his eyes away from that slack pale face, jerking his head towards the door to summon the trooper, who warily approached like any minute he’d find himself laid out with a bullet-hole in his neck, “You’re going to carry something for me.”</p><p>He ignored the stammering acknowledgement of his order as he swept past the trooper, only stopping by the exit of the showroom to look down at the network device he’d placed in the corner, no hands free to gesture the idiot towards it as he just stood there, staring at him.</p><p>“What are you looking at me for? Pick it up.” The tone of his voice was impatient, and the soldier scrambled to obey, clutching at the delicate piece of machinery like he was trying to snap it with his bare hands. </p><p>Good help was so hard to find these days.</p><p>Reno didn’t try to suppress his irritation as he stepped closer, the trooper turning around just in time to find himself boxed in to the corner, the badly sculpted shoulder guards of the grunts uniform hitting the wall as he lurched backwards, scraping along it until he fell still, nowhere to move with the Turk in front of him, arms full of unconscious SOLDIER.</p><p>“I’m going to say this once, so listen closely.” Reno leaned in so the trooper had even less space to panic in, “That little doohickey is worth more than your life, so I suggest you remove your scarf, wrap it up carefully and handle with caution. Nod so I know you’re understanding me.”</p><p>The man was already tearing at his scarf when he realised he was supposed to be responding, jerking his head hard at Reno in a nod hard enough to cause whiplash as he folded the little piece of tech into the green material like he was handling a newborn babe. </p><p>Reno was already turning away, muttering unpleasant curses under his breath as he carried his precious cargo towards the elevators, the blond cradled to his chest tight enough that he could feel the shallow draw of his laboured breath as he tried to fight off the toxic shot of Mako. This time, the chirpy little bell as the elevator doors opened to take them back up to the top of the tower sounded like a choir of angels, and the redhead let his bad mood melt away like snow in sunshine.</p><p>Mission accomplished.</p><p>The boy didn’t stir at all as Reno stepped into the elevator, staring down at the upturn of the blond's unconscious face with a wild grin.</p><p>“Come on, doll-face. Someone’s just dying to see you...”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>BTW, Reno thinks everyone is an idiot. Ironic, huh?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sweet baby cheeses, it's a bit late here, and my brain is a bit fried. I wasn't going to sleep until I had this finished though, so here you go! A labour of love, mostly constructed with bits of canon held together by duct tape and my inane rambling. I hope it suffices! </p><p>Thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter! The style, the panache, the witty banter! You guys know how to make a girl feel loved, don't'cha? </p><p>I ADORE YOU ALL! </p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waiting was simultaneously the most thrilling waste of time Rufus had ever needed to suffer, and the most lengthy. </p><p>Every second Reno was out of his sight in pursuit of a certain flighty blond was another second Rufus spent wondering if he should join in the hunt himself, even if he couldn’t spare himself to do it. There were plans to be made for the future of the company that now rested in his hands, decisions to be finalised from grander scales to delicate minutia, and a hard-won transition of power to be documented. Every single item on his checklist was both time-sensitive and important. </p><p>Still, there was a sizable part of his attention diverted from them in favour of wondering if the next beat of his heart was the slice of time it took for his Little Bird to slip through his fingers, and if he should be putting more effort into making sure that didn’t happen.</p><p>Reno was capable, Rufus reminded himself, drumming his fingers on the arms of the over-sized seat of power he had claimed. He’d get the job done. </p><p>The desk in front of him was practically sparkling, cleared of his deceased father’s effects and polished to a shine. The computer system was locked, the screens glowing faintly red from their inability to identify a viable retinal scan in Rufus, the rest inaccessible until the Turks could crack his father’s pass-codes. There was still blood on the floor, soaking into the carpet alongside the gaudy looking gun his father had favoured. He hadn't allowed anyone to touch it, or clean it up. He had even had to beckon DarkStar away the moment she felt well enough to try and investigate the tantalising scent of blood on the air, his sharp whistle piercing her delicate hearing until she slunk back to his side with drooping ears. The mess was just fine where it was, undisturbed, a testament to his father's end. He hadn’t yet looked at the security footage to see what had happened, but the gruesome image he imagined was enough to put a smile on his face. The macabre spectacle would also be helpful in confirming to the Board that he was in charge, with little reason to waste time on explanations now that his predecessor had kicked the proverbial bucket.</p><p>There was a cold breeze coming in from the broken window, people scurrying about quietly so as not to disturb him as they covered the gap with a large plastic sheet and cleaned up the broken glass from the floor until the window itself could be replaced. Rufus suspected many of them were nervous with DarkStar freshly healed and studying them with a hint of danger in her eye. She was still rearing for a fight after dropping out of the last one far too early for her own liking. </p><p>Bloodthirsty little thing. </p><p>The sharp click of Tseng’s approaching footsteps in the hallway drew his gaze up from where his hand had fallen to stroke over the neck of his beloved pet, and she growled contentedly under his palm at the light scratches. Rufus allowed himself a fond smile at her as he dismissed the clean-up crew out of the room, sending them to focus on the disturbing streaks of spillage glowing violet in the hallways as the Turk in question stepped through the open doors of the office. </p><p>Tseng had been at his side all of thirty seconds when Rufus had issued his first orders as President, summoning Heidegger, Scarlett, Palmer and Tuesti to his office within the hour and sending the Leader of the Turks on an errand to seek out information on the SOLDIER he had fought on the roof. He had no doubts he'd been as transparent as air in his interest, his description of the target perhaps a touch too hungry, but Rufus was happy to note that despite the limited information he had been able to provide, Tseng’s hands were not empty as he stepped neatly over the hole in the floor where his Little Bird had planted his sword to kick Reno’s heart through his spine.</p><p>Rufus let his eyes linger on the damage for a few seconds longer than intended to reminisce on the moment, allowing his First in Command to approach his newly acquired desk. </p><p>Twenty minutes was not nearly enough time to procure an entire life-story even if Tseng was considered the most proficient man for the job of digging one up. Shinra had never been good at documenting the baby steps of its lesser known entities. There was no knowing how long the boy had been in their employ before he deserted, and given he was still alive, likely no way to trace his footsteps from Shinra to where he stood now, aligning himself to the terrorists who sought to dismantle the company that made him what he was. However, the prettiest intrigues could be spun from the fewest words, and with Tseng's penchant for leaving no stone unturned, there was no way a rogue SOLDIER with a proclivity for terrorism would be completely off radar. </p><p>Rufus rubbed his fingers at his temple to ease the mild dizziness incurred by the thought of how many dirty secrets he could potentially unearth, all the little things he might be able to use to keep his Little Bird tethered. He’d know much more about his boy the next time he saw him, and as he eyed the gaping hole in his floor again, he couldn't help but hope his Little Bird would still be as feisty when Reno dragged him back into his clutches. </p><p>The manila file that Tseng slid across the desk was thinner than expected, the depth no more than an inch or two at most, and Rufus stared down at it as he drew it towards himself with something cresting the edges of disappointment. Before tonight, he had never held more than fleeting curiosity in SOLDIER outside of their potential use, or expressed particular interest in any of them beyond the 'Infamous Three' for business purposes, but it was a well-known fact that SOLDIER personnel files were usually dense, thickened with mission reports and rough-copy debriefings. Points of view, hand-written by the SOLDIER in question, that would have been a very insightful glimpse into the inner workings of the little blond upstart that had disarmed him on the roof. </p><p>Perhaps his Little Bird had not been in SOLDIER long before his desertion? </p><p>“Is this everything?” Rufus grazed his fingers over the name printed in the top corner of the file, tracing the ridges of imprinted ink like he could embed himself in them. </p><p>Strife, Cloud. </p><p>He rolled the shape of the unusual name around in his mouth, tasting at it like it was a sample of something rare, eyes closing briefly to summon up the flush of fair skin, the blaze of mako-bright eyes and the feel of spun gold sifting through his fingertips. The mere memory of him brought the name to life in his mind’s eye, slipped it across his tongue like ambrosia.</p><p>Cloud. </p><p>Oh, it tasted lovely. </p><p>“All we could find for the moment, Sir,” Tseng sounded as perplexed as he’d ever heard him, “Most of the information is new, collated from reports filed by my men following the mission in Sector 7. Reno and Rude also submitted statements regarding separate encounters with the target in Sector 5 while shadowing the Ancient. There have been some other interesting notes I  was able to collect from other resources while cross-referencing, and once I had discovered his name, I was alerted to the existence of an older redacted file with several inferences to the target as well.”</p><p>“Which file?”</p><p>“Zack Fair. SOLDIER 1st Class.” </p><p>Rufus glanced up at Tseng, whose back seemed to imperceptibly straighten at the scrutiny.</p><p>“I recognise that name.”</p><p>When it had been required to monitor the resources of his father before the attempted coup, Rufus had ordered his Turks’ keep tabs on the three shining stars of SOLDIER up until the mass desertion led by Genesis Rhapsodos. Zack Fair was, if he was not mistaken, the rambunctious protege that Angeal Hewley had taken under his wing, before he too disappeared. </p><p>He had been a footnote, something to look on as a potential future asset, but nothing more. </p><p>Until that last mission. </p><p>A reactor malfunction that required two 1st Class SOLDIER’s was unheard of. The massacre and the subsequent cover up that followed left a trail of threads to tug on for anyone stubborn enough to look, and Zack Fair’s name was left to languish in the middle of a conspiracy. A string of fast promotions throughout his short career was suspect enough, but the way the prodigal swordsman had fallen off of the grid when Sephiroth was also lost to time and speculation left too many open questions. </p><p>Shinra’s board didn’t like those. </p><p>Any information that even implied incompetence over the unfortunate incident five years past had been amended, redacted or outright destroyed to protect the reputation of lesser men. Of his father. And, promising resources like Zack Fair were squandered long before they’d seen proper use. </p><p>An expensive, wasteful pity. </p><p>“You knew him?”</p><p>“Briefly, Sir.” Tseng inclined his head, “The relevant information pertaining to his connection with Strife is included in the file.”</p><p>Rufus waved Tseng away so he could peruse in peace until Reno returned with his prize, waiting until the door of the office closed behind him on his way out before he answered the many questions he had with the scant information that was available to him. That the boy knew SOLDIER Fair was interesting. It may have even been a catalyst to him leaving, but the blond looked far too young to have attained the rank he seemed to hold in SOLDIER five years ago.</p><p>The file itself was outwardly dull and nondescript for all the tantalizing answers it held. </p><p>Rufus expected the basics. Weapon statistics. Medical chart and bio. Lab notes on the various treatments from promotion to 3rd rank and up would hardly be a riveting read even as he prepared himself to push through them, and training write-ups and misconduct reports were common for fledgling SOLDIER’s fresh out of their first mako-baths, but when he flicked open the file, that was not what he found. </p><p>A little square cut photo beamed up at him with a hesitant smile from a face younger than he could recall looking at not thirty feet from his seat a matter of hours ago. The blue eyes were different, still a bright blaze of colour, but none of the effervescent glow of enhancement. The boy’s gaze was slightly averted, not looking straight into the camera and missing the confidence he so brazenly displayed on the roof, the shyness of his youth unexpectedly charming. Even without that, the unruly blond hair alone was enough to identify the person in question, but the contents of his personnel paperwork were all wrong. </p><p>Cloud Strife joined the infantry just before he turned the tender age of fifteen, a fresh faced escapee from the doldrums of a backwater existence in the Nibel mountains. </p><p>Nibelheim.</p><p>The name rang a hollow note of familiarity. Something discordant, and of great import.</p><p>The simpler notes were a quick skim. Height, weight, eye colour, blood type. Family. One mother, now deceased. The three failed attempts to make SOLDIER were interesting. Usually three was the total amount, but he’d clearly managed it somehow, given his current status. Brief scribbles in the sprawled writing of a lab technician spoke of mako-sensitivity, of the high percentage chance of mental instability if the boy were ever inducted into SOLDIER. </p><p>“He seemed plenty sane, to me,” Rufus murmured as he shifted over the bio leaf to sift deeper into the file. Training notes. Nothing interesting there. A few write ups for fighting in the barracks. To be expected. Rufus could assume the ferocity that Cloud had brought to bear against him on the rooftop had been born of years of underestimation due to his size and the bat of those pretty golden eyelashes. Infantrymen were always trying to establish the rank and file, and a pretty thing like Cloud looked to be an easy target until he unsheathed those claws. </p><p>There were some papers clipped together into a selection that didn’t take long to flick through. Minor trooper missions requiring very little follow-up were more of a file-filler than anticipated, at first, until Rufus came across an unusual debrief, the bold capitals of every word over-sized as if to fill up the page faster. </p><p>It was typed in short sentences like staccato bursts, the structure of it almost jarring, and the illegible scrawl beneath the solid block of text was nigh unreadable if not for Tseng’s neat handwriting at the bottom of the page. Zack Fair, Modeoheim and the date the report was submitted. Approximately six years ago. The report itself was worded with a kind of exuberance that would have been considered unprofessional of a SOLDIER 2nd, as he had been at the time of the report. It was flattering to his company, dramatic instead of factual, and named Cloud personally as “The best back-up a guy could ask for.” followed shortly by, “Tseng did his bit, too.”.</p><p>Rufus stifled his laugh into the palm of his glove. </p><p>When he shifted that humorous waste of paper aside, his gaze caught on a palm-sized glossy square of thicker card-stock. A photograph. Just from the over-exuberant extension of arms and wide open mouth of the dark haired SOLDIER who appeared to be gesticulating wildly despite being caught in a snapshot of time, Rufus guessed he was looking at Fair. His attitude and energy seemed to ripple from him in waves even through the static nature of the media he was immortalised in. There was also a suspiciously familiar sword strapped to his back. </p><p>That wasn’t what drew the eye, though.</p><p>Beside him, looking smaller, less slender, and dare he say it, healthier, was a familiar face, and Rufus lifted the photo to better look at Cloud Strife. He was shorter than Fair by a significant amount, so it didn’t appear he had gotten taller since then, but the trooper uniform he was wearing was not something Rufus expected to see. The blond was clutching his helmet at his hip, one hand toying with the scarf around his neck, the green of it making his eyes flare like a trapped summer sky. He was leaning back from Fair, as if startled, bottom lip caught between his teeth, and hair mussed like he’d just raked his fingers through it. Messy. Almost cute.</p><p>The block letters on the back documented the photo as just over five years ago, a large capital K initialled in the right hand corner. Shortly before Fair disappeared. </p><p>The photo was set on the desk to the side as Rufus dug through more papers. Inconsequential things, minor injuries, nothing a cure couldn’t fix but still nothing about SOLDIER or his initiation to it. There was a mission report from Junon, a couple more with nothing but satisfactory mark-ups of a job successfully completed. There was a short roster for a mission to Cloud’s home-town, a list of five names stamped in a column under the mission title, and Rufus stopped sifting at the sight of it. </p><p>Sephiroth’s name was a point of focus that demanded immediate attention, like a billow of dark smoke on a bright horizon. </p><p>A mission to the Western continent to check on a reactor malfunction. Zack Fair, present. Cloud Strife, present, and another two infantrymen accompanying, though both names seemed far beyond relevant. </p><p>Nibelheim. The reactor mission. </p><p>Cloud had been there. </p><p>There was no other information beyond the mission parameters, no witness testimonials, nothing. The next paperwork in the file was a particularly aggressive statement from Reno regarding an interaction in a church in the Sector 5 slums while on security detail for the Ancient. It went a long way to explaining Reno’s personal distaste for the blond on the rooftop, and the zeal with which he went after him. The statement had been dated just a few days ago, the ink so fresh the scent of it wafted up into the air as though it was still wet. </p><p>Cloud Strife had disappeared five years ago. Just like Fair. Just like Sephiroth. </p><p>How did a trooper disappear in a massacre, and emerge a SOLDIER? </p><p>“Tseng!” Rufus shuffled the past paperwork into a neat pile, the bits he found less useful pushed to the side, the rest sitting at his elbow to see if anything further could be pulled out of the woodwork to explain the gaps and inaccuracies. The office door opened smoothly, Tseng’s steady gait marching across the floor with a practiced rhythm, sweeping a shallow bow before the desk. Rufus motioned him closer as his eyes moved back to the photograph.</p><p>“Sir?”</p><p>“Have we been able to salvage anything from the aftermath of the Nibelheim mission? Survivors? Footage? Anything?” Thin lips pursed in a frown as Rufus steepled his hands on the desktop, “This collection is incomplete.”</p><p>“Not yet, Sir, although I do admit to having some suspicions where we might find something relevant.” Tseng paused, diplomatically, and it was unusual to see him struggle with how to turn a phrase when he was usually so eloquent, “It would involve Turk presence in the labs, which your predecessor did not permit at the behest of Professor Hojo.”</p><p>“See to it.” Rufus waved him out without waiting for the door to close this time to look further into what remaining information he had yet to scan through. Rude’s statement was short and to the point. Mercenary turned bodyguard, involved with the Ancient. Both quite friendly with each other, and Cloud had stepped up to the mark when the proverbial gauntlet had been thrown. Their fight had been interrupted by the assignment of the Sector 7 mission, and Rude had been ordered to abandon post. </p><p>There were some grainy printed photos from security footage in the Mako reactors, grey-scale and blown up larger than the quality of the camera’s could deal with until the people in them were barely more than cubic art. </p><p>Cloud’s hair was instantly recognisable, an absurdly luminous blob despite the lack of colour, and the dark smudge next to him looked to be the girl he had fled with from the executive suite. Rufus resisted the urge to clench his fist around the papers like he could crush her through the symbology of it. There were some other less recognisable characters battling their way through the defences of the reactors, none of them keeping as close to Cloud through the footage as the brunette. Probably more wanted fugitives from AVALANCHE’s eco-terrorist cells, but none of their features were definable enough to put bounties on. </p><p>He put the blurred sheets of paper aside before they gave him a headache.</p><p>The photographs that caught his eye then were intriguing in an altogether different way. </p><p>There were three of them in a neat little stack, significantly higher quality than the ones that had come before, glossy and so colourful that they made the file beneath them look unbelievably dull. They came complete with what felt like a disk in a paper sheath, no writing, no explanation, and Rufus set the disk aside to study the photographs more closely.</p><p>The room was gaudy, an over-embellished eyesore despite the dimmed lighting, the background golds and reds and the blinding light of the camera flash throwing the foreground into sharp relief. The camera was facing an opulent bed, clearly installed for less than savoury reasons, but that didn’t mean the contents were unworthy of his interest. </p><p>The silhouette front and centre was perched on the end of the bed so daintily it looked as though he feared being swallowed by it, sharp curves pronounced in tightly bound blue satin and black lace, hands clasped demurely in a lap full of fluffed skirts. The face was undoubtedly Cloud’s, framed as it was by his barely tamed blond hair, although with enhancements of a different kind. </p><p>A becoming powdered blush turned pale cheeks rosy, something shimmering along his cheekbones that drew attention to the dark fullness of his lashes and how much brighter his eyes looked because of them. That all-too-enticing mouth glistened with what appeared to be gloss, twisted as it was in a disgusted frown. It was no wonder, with Don Corneo hovering at his shoulder with an overtly salacious grin.</p><p>The next photo was much the same, but the palpable tension in Cloud’s frame was translated into clenched fists, the delicate furrow between his brow giving him a disturbed countenance, and the harshness of that soft looking mouth, slightly parted to deliver a cutting word, coupled with the shocked look of delight on the Don’s face made what should have been a quite serious picture entirely comical.</p><p>The Don was still alive, to his knowledge. Scurried underground after a scuffle in his sector, like an overweight sewer-rat. That he survived this encounter at all was a miracle. Cloud looked ready to gut the man with the heel of his boot. </p><p>Rufus leaned back in his chair, taking the second photo with him.</p><p>It was no secret that Don Corneo was an opportunist with a big mouth who valued his own skin above the interests of his betters. He did not seem the sort of person Cloud would go out of his way to interact with unless he had something of use or value. </p><p>The third picture and the disk revealed the rest, the presence of the girl Tifa, and the recorded video feed of their line of questioning about the Sector 7 plate revealing the Don to be a double-crossing traitor. It would have happened sooner or later. The worthless creature put too much stock in self-preservation, enough to sacrifice his pride and cower like a wounded beast in front of an immediate threat, and given how quickly Cloud reached for his sword when the Don tried to play coy, the threat had been imminent indeed.</p><p>Until he’d dropped all three of his pretty intruders into the sewers.</p><p>The rest of the file was scant. Reno and Rude’s accounts of the Sector 7 pillar mission, and AVALANCHE’s pointless attempt at an interception. A strangely vague letter of recommendation from someone named Andrea Rhodea, stamped with a glittering golden insect that seemed to resemble a honeybee, of all things. There were some other documents too, none that looked even remotely related to medical enhancement procedures, or like they had anything to do with the SOLDIER program. Cloud Strife's promotion to SOLDIER appeared to be a complete mystery. One that required further investigation.</p><p>He didn’t get time to look through the rest when he was interrupted. </p><p>An oddly rhythmic knock on the office doors, loud enough to carry in the space of the room, was all the warning he received before they swung open, Reno striding in with a spring in his step, and his arms full. The smirk across his face was so wide it could have offended the most benign of people, which went a long way to explaining why Tseng was following on his heels, frowning at the back of his head like he wanted to drag the redhead back out of the office by the scruff of his neck.</p><p>Rufus didn’t much care what Tseng wanted at that point.</p><p>He swept the file shut with a sweep of his hand, unconcerned about leaving the documents inside in disarray. The photo’s of his Little Bird could wait. </p><p>Reno was carrying the real thing towards him with a self-satisfied grin. </p><p>Tucked up in his arms, and with his weapon nowhere in sight, one could almost mistake Cloud for someone’s sweetheart, fallen asleep after fine food and warm company. He looked mostly unharmed, his head turned into the dark fabric of the Turk’s uniformed shoulder like he’d nuzzled himself in there, his slumbering face mostly obscured by the wild tangle of blond spikes where his chin was tucked down into his own chest, the heavy gauntlet around his wrist swinging his arm with its weight where it had dropped free from his lap.</p><p>Rufus felt something strangely like excitement kindle in his stomach as he rose from his chair to circle the desk, and Reno stopped in front of it, hefting the unconscious blond higher in his arms with less care than he would have if he were merely sleeping. The boy didn’t so much as stir, silent and yielding as a marionette without strings as Rufus stepped in close enough to hear the soft hush of the boy’s quiet breath. It was hard to resist the urge to touch and there was nothing to stop him, so he didn’t, brushing feathery golden hair back with his fingers, and stroking along the outer shell of one ear, light touch wandering down over the exposed length of the side of the boy’s neck until he could feel the thrum of his heartbeat.</p><p>“Yo, Boss,” Reno chanced a wink when Rufus glanced up, “Happy Birthday.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Say it with me now. Chapter 9. Kinky times. </p><p>IT'S ALMOST TIME *flails* MUST. BREATHE.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, fuck! Another super long chapter for you. Kinda had to, though, to follow through on the hype I accidentally kicked up for chapter 9 in my comments section.</p><p>My whole life is a whoops moment. Stop plying me for spoilers, okay? I am weak, and I love you all! This is exploitation. </p><p>...I might be kinda into it a little bit. Keep going.</p><p>We are starting to earn our rating, my darlings! RUFUS IS A BAD, BAD BOY! I hope you enjoy it!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rufus graced the redhead with an amused smile, loathed to take his hands from the steady pulse of his Little Bird’s fluttering heartbeat, but the hardest part was over now. He swallowed down his reluctance as he pulled his hands away and tilted his head towards Tseng, Reno turning to deposit the blond into the Wutaian’s open arms like he was tipping a sack of greens into a chocobo pen. It was ungentle, careless really, but Cloud surrendered to gravity as any sleeping soul would do, and the image of him cradled in Tseng’s arms as they closed around him settled the anxious flutter in his gut as he moved back to his seat.</p><p>He’d lock the tower down if he had to. Close the cage. Anything to keep his Little Bird grounded and within reach. Touching him would only be so rare as he allowed it to be, even if Cloud was less than welcoming when he awoke. It was all too well-known that Reno was not fond of playing nicely unless ordered, and Rufus had no idea what kind of malcontent he would be contending with when those pretty mako-flooded eyes fluttered open, but he was ready to fight dirty if his Little Bird was upset and in need of a pleasurable diversion. For now, though, it was better to play it safe. Tseng was the next best person to keep eyes on his prize until he could spare his own.</p><p>Tseng, who was regarding the sleeping SOLDIER in his arms with something that bordered on confusion. Or, as close to it as he’d ever publicly display. There was a subtle frown turning down the corners of his usually taciturn lips, brown eyes gazing down into Cloud’s unguarded face like he was looking at something distantly familiar. As if he was searching for a memory so thin and fragile, it was slipping through his fingers like wisps of smoke. </p><p>“You have seen him before, Tseng. And, not recently.” Rufus confirmed as he settled into his chair, laying a hand on the file that had been gifted to him earlier, and sliding it a little further across the desk so he could lace his fingers over the polished shine of it, “I’m not sure how deeply you looked into the research you brought to me, but you will come to find my Cloud is an interesting little puzzle piece, and part of what seems to be a large oversight not yet remedied. We have work to do yet before we find exactly where he fits.”</p><p>Tseng inclined his head, quietly accepting. </p><p>“May I secure him for you?”</p><p>Rufus leaned back in his seat with a satisfied hum, “Make him comfortable. Not too much. We can’t have him waking up, and throwing tantrums before I am able to assure him of his place.”</p><p>“Use this if he wakes up, yo,” Reno paused where he’d been twirling his electro-mag around in his fingers and slipped a hand in his pocket to withdraw a little black case, the faint green glow of something flaring out around its edges even before he’d opened it. He carefully lifted a little metal and glass vial between his finger and thumb, the sharp needle end of it blunted with a plastic stopper, “It’ll knock him out good if he tries to swing at ya.”</p><p>Cloud didn’t so much as move through it all as Tseng accepted the unusual item with little more than a curious glance, Reno snapping the case closed to slip it back into his pocket as the Leader of the Turks turned away. His long hair caught the faint breeze stirring through the plastic-sheeted window like a dark wave behind him as he moved across the room to the hidden elevator on the far wall. It was a fetching image, one that called to mind old fables of captured maidens stolen away from their flowering fields, and the dark desires of the Underworld come to claim them. </p><p>His Little Bird looked so appealingly trapped, so unknowing of everything transpiring around him. Rufus had to actively pull himself away from the alluring sight of it, turning his attention back to the redhead slouching his hip against the front of his desk.  </p><p>Reno was back to swinging his baton in a perfect arc to occupy his restless energy, the strap wrapped around his wrist, but he was not a Turk for nothing, and the moment he sensed Rufus’ eyes on him, he looked back, the beginnings of a pleased smile dancing mischievously around the corners of his mouth.</p><p>Rufus was not afraid to admit the redhead had every reason to be smug.</p><p>“Is he damaged?” </p><p>“Nah,” Reno turned back to face the desk, straightening up respectfully in a way that did not suit him, “He might be a bit woozy for a while, maybe a little bit weak and confused, but Mako can do that to a SOLDIER. He’ll be fine.”</p><p>“You shot him up with Mako?”</p><p>“Absolutely, Boss. Didn’t even hesitate.” Reno didn’t seem the least bit apologetic as he reached into his holster and withdrew a tranquiliser gun and the case he had presented to Tseng, opening it for Rufus’ inspection, “Tuesti designed this after the defection in case we had any more SOLDIER’s deteriorate in the building. He was concerned about civilian casualties if we failed to de-escalate any situations with rogue SOLDIER’s in time. Came in real handy with your boy, though, given he was gearing up to launch himself through a window on a motorcycle.”</p><p>“Was he now?” Rufus shook his head lightly with a quiet laugh as he turned his eyes away from the last remaining dart and its sickly green glow, reaching out to draw the tranquiliser weapon closer. It was a vicious looking thing, even with the holster protectively capped in rubber to prevent accidental misfire, “Reeve has no significant depth of knowledge regarding weaponising mako. He must have worked in tandem with someone more proficient in it.”</p><p>There was only one such sadist that sprang immediately to mind.</p><p>“Hojo.” The way Reno spat the name suggested he carried as much respect for the creepy old man as the next person, “No way it could have been anyone else. That cocktail certainly dropped your boy like a dead weight when I hit him with it, and honestly, I’ve never seen a SOLDIER go down that quick. Would have been real useful on the pillar when Blondie was causing us trouble.”</p><p>“It seems I am going to have to have a conversation with Professor Hojo at some point, regarding more than a single matter.” Rufus mused, quietly, fingers tugging at the cuffs of his armoured coat to straighten them, “His name keeps cropping up under very unusual circumstances. He should be able to answer some questions I have, and if I find his answers unsatisfactory, I may require use of some of your… more specific skills.”</p><p>Reno seemed to perk like an excited child, like he’d be given permission for something he had been hoping to do for some time, “You mean-”</p><p>“Infiltration, Reno. Please, calm down.” </p><p>The redhead deflated like a burst balloon, throwing his hands up in a show of disrespect that would have made Tseng extremely unhappy. Rufus let it slide. A little relaxed behaviour was acceptable after the wonderful gift he had delivered, and far be it from him to curb Reno’s more violent tendencies, especially when they were one of the sole reasons he had been recruited to the Turks in the first place.</p><p>“Not that I care or nothin’, but the creepy bastard is getting lax on his security, too.” Reno fidgeted in front of him like he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, tucking away his mag-rod just to keep them busy, “Tseng delivered the Ancient to him yesterday evening, and it looks like Blondie made it his personal mission to storm the castle, and rescue the princess. That’s probably the only reason they were here. Didn’t look to me like AVALANCHE were on board with any of it, until things started going right for them.”</p><p>Rufus looked back up at Reno as he looked away. Not like he cared, he had said. Reno could lie like the best of them when he needed to, but even he had his soft spots. He was not opposed to cutting the fingers off of anyone who got too close to them, but Rufus had heard tales of the Flower Girl, and her kind heart. Given how long the Turks had spent watching over her, it was only too likely that attachment would have set in, at least in some capacity.</p><p>So, Cloud had launched a full on declaration of rebellion against Shinra Tower more to rescue a friend, than to settle any eco-terrorist-based vendetta. It was surprising, but only strengthened his opinions on where pressure could be applied if Cloud proved too much of a handful. That the ragtag group of misfits had made it as far as they had was even more astounding, but he doubted they would make it much further without the SOLDIER to back them up.</p><p>“A brave effort, if somewhat naive,” Rufus closed the mako case, the sight of Hojo’s specific brand of science enough to turn even his stomach.</p><p>“Wouldn’t say that, Boss,” Reno whistled through his teeth, almost like he was bearing bad news and didn’t want to admit to it, “Blondie managed to get everyone out, except for himself. It was a close one, but the Ancient is in the wind, with Tifa, Mountain Man and the Fire Dog. They’re probably tearing up the Midgar expressway as we speak.”</p><p>Rufus slid the file containing his Little Bird’s information down into a secure drawer where he could finish looking it over at a later time, moving to his feet and petting at DarkStar’s head where she had dropped into a doze by his chair. She pushed up briefly into his palm, but stayed where she was, the dutiful creature guarding his throne while he took a few minutes to check on his new acquisition.</p><p>Cloud’s friends would still be useful. The Ancient was a rare resource, one yet untapped, and he had plenty of ideas for what he could do with the rest of them. A certain brunette in particular. Loathed as he was to admit it, she would be a powerful heart-string to tug on should his Little Bird become too difficult.</p><p>“Bring them in, Reno.” </p><p>Reno swiped the tranquiliser gun off of his desk with a dexterity that always surprised. </p><p>“I am all over it, Boss.”</p><p>Rufus turned to follow Tseng and his prize, not bothering to watch the redhead leave as the hasty click of Reno’s dress-shoes more than betrayed his excitement on his way out. He probably should have requested Reno attempt to capture the rogues quietly, but a little bit of noise wouldn’t exactly be bad. Scarlett would be able to spin any property damage as AVALANCHE’s fault anyway, given how easy it had been to redirect the blame of the plate-fall. Child’s play, really.</p><p>Whatever damage Reno caused, it would be a media spin for another day.</p><p>The private elevator ride up to the well-kept secret of the 71st floor was smooth and short, but even so, impatience was a wild thing in his chest, fingers clenching into fists with the need to hold, to touch. He knew he should enjoy the moment, the anticipation, but it was near impossible when all he wanted to do was press the boy beneath him and keep him there. To look at, to kiss, to make him scream. To make him cry. Rufus was certain Cloud would be beautiful when he cried, little body brimming with pleasure until he burst apart with it.</p><p>He couldn’t wait to see it all. </p><p>The penthouse was quiet as he pressed through the narrow gap of gold and glass doors, barely opened into the open space of it. It was rare that his father ever used the place, preferring to keep it ready for emergencies and wasting valuable company time flying helicopters back and forth to his various estates instead of staying in the tower where he belonged.</p><p>Not that Rufus was complaining. The absence of his father’s mark on the suite meant he had to do very little to mould it to his liking, the clean pale colours and mostly untouched furnishings a blank slate already mostly suited to his preferred palette.</p><p>The surrounding floor to ceiling windows were tinted dark, to keep out the bright lights of the city and the blaze of the Mako reactors more than any prying eyes. They were too far up for anything like that, high enough that the scarcely seen stars were visible through the cloud-line if you looked up. That was the richest feeling, to be the only one able to afford that view in all of Midgar. The common people could see nothing through the low hanging density of the smog that stretched across the upper plate. Even for miles across the wasteland outside of the city, the stars were a rare commodity few could afford, and the slum-rats below the plate had even less of a view than that.</p><p>Despite the powerful beauty of it, there was only one view Rufus wanted right now.</p><p>Tseng was standing guard outside of the bedroom, hands clasped in front of him, eyes forward and the door opened just enough to listen for sounds of movement. On the table beside him were the boy’s effects, the soft leather straps of his harness, his pauldron, the ugly metal gauntlets that Rufus remembered him using to try and dislocate his shoulder. The stomach guard rested on top of a long strip of bandage and black leather gloves. The boots were perfectly lined up beneath the table.</p><p>“He’s still unconscious. I believe he may be highly sensitive to the Mako.” Tseng’s voice was hushed as he stepped forward, fingers moving unprompted to unbutton the armour of Rufus’ white jacket. Rufus slipped his hands down to the harness belt around his hips, unbuckling the strap so Tseng could slide his coat from his shoulders, and down the length of his arms. </p><p>He felt so much lighter without it, so much more exposed, his skin almost tingling with his awareness, but the penthouse was the most guarded fortress in Midgar, atop the highest tower, and the only one who could hurt him was lying insensate in his bed with no weapons to make up for his lack of strength. The less layers between him and his Little Bird when he finally awoke, the better. It might not be safe, but Reno had claimed that the injected mako would effectively weaken Cloud’s SOLDIER strength. </p><p>It remained to be seen how much of that was true, but to his mind, it was worth the risk. </p><p>Rufus helped Tseng unfasten the rest of his armoured garments with little fuss, the complicated buckles and the drape of fabric at his hips all removed and meticulously folded, Rufus rolling up the cuffs of his charcoal coloured shirt-sleeves and tossing his removed waistcoat onto the chaise as Tseng carried the various pieces of his armour to the walk-in closet to tuck them away neatly until they were needed.</p><p>“Reno said as much about his susceptibility.” Rufus tugged at his dark tie, loosening it enough to unbutton the collar of his shirt, pausing to peel off his gloves and drop them on the ornate coffee table, “I trust you’ve taken precautions?”</p><p>“Some.” Tseng glanced back at the door, “I’m not sure if injecting him with further mako will have any ill effect, but it’s a proven method, so it will have to suffice for now. I’ve retro-fitted one of the stronger bangles we reserve for more rowdy prisoners and scientific specimens with the mako dart instead of the relaxant. His wrists were smaller than expected, so I will admit to some improvisation.”</p><p>A small remote was passed into his hands and Rufus looked at it. The little piece of metal and plastic was nothing special, a singular button with a locking mechanism to keep it from being jostled if in a pocket, or dropped. </p><p>Tseng moved swiftly down to one knee while he was distracted, unlacing his boots so that Rufus could step out of them, straightening the cuffs of his white trousers, but Rufus only scoffed as he made to remove his socks as well.</p><p>“One would think you assume me to be helpless, Tseng.” He moved away, slipping the small remote into his trouser pocket as he removed his own socks, dropping them over the arm of the sofa and moving towards the bedroom, “Please see to it that the Board arrive promptly as requested, and keep an eye on them while I am occupied.”</p><p>“But, Sir-” Tseng glanced at the bedroom door with mostly-concealed trepidation.</p><p>Rufus stared back at him, silently, his growing impatience only serving to deepen his frown the longer Tseng dared to stare back at him.</p><p>It was a battle of wills the Turk was never going to win, and he relented with a barely audible sigh.</p><p>“Understood.” </p><p>Tseng looked away respectfully as he pulled out his phone, likely to check in with Rude and his progress for something to do, as he left to babysit Heidegger and Scarlett. He didn’t look happy as he turned towards the elevator, but Rufus supposed it was turning out to be a day for that.</p><p>He’d have to make it up to him by sending him after the Ancient if Reno was unsuccessful.</p><p>That might cheer him up.</p><p>Rufus pushed open the door to the bedroom with little in mind beyond his own eagerness to set eyes on what lay beyond it, expectations high and yet, still unprepared for the thrill of seeing his Little Bird curled up on his dark sheets. </p><p>Cloud was snuggled adorably into the pillow, a gentle furrow in his brow like he didn’t understand the comfort of it, dressed simply in the ugly woolen turtleneck and trousers of his uniform. His hands were bound in front of him with a simple silk scarf in dark purple, resting limply on the mattress, and on his ankle, just below the cuff of his fatigues was the device Tseng had mentioned. A mythril bangle, reconfigured to accept the shot of Mako instead of the usual muscle relaxant, ready to be remotely injected at a moment’s delay if the boy became a danger. </p><p>Rufus crossed the room at his own leisurely pace, savouring the sight as he closed the distance between the door and the bed in long strides, bare feet sinking into the plush carpet only compounding the feeling of victory surging in his chest as he stood over his sleeping conquest. His eyes were rapt over the rise and fall of his narrow chest, the way his fingers twitched in their bindings like he was reaching for something, or someone. Out of curiosity, Rufus stretched out a hand to ease two fingers into the curl of the boy’s palm, watching as his grip closed around them in a light hold, something timid enough to break without any use of force. </p><p>The near silent hum the boy made as he moved away sounded almost mournful as he tried to curl further into himself, bound hands sliding in towards his chest as though he were cold. It only made him look even smaller. </p><p>Rufus leaned down over him, careful to keep out of easy striking distance as he cupped his hand to the sharp cut of a smooth jaw before it could tuck any lower down out of sight, tilting that pretty blond head back into the firm plush of the pillow. Cloud moved easily under his touch, not so much as murmuring his discomfort, and Rufus marvelled at his unconscious compliance as he pulled the knot of his tie loose, tugging it completely free of his unbuttoned collar. </p><p>The length of it slid through his fingers like a trickling stream of cool water, pooling in coils across the bed by Cloud's bound hands. The dark shade was nearly lost among the sheets, silk on silk, but as he wound the end of it around his fist, teasing himself by trailing the pointed end up and over the immaculate stretch of the boys bare upper arm, he found that the colours meshed pleasingly.</p><p>Dark silk looked good against Cloud’s fair skin.</p><p>He considered the luxurious strip of fabric in his grasp, the soft slide of it expensive and non-abrasive, perfect for the idea spawning in his mind as he dragged it higher, over the curve of the boy’s cheek. The halo of golden hair was also a well-suited match, and while those eyes were beautiful, if Reno’s accounts could be trusted, his Little Bird would be disoriented upon waking. </p><p>It was too perfect of an opportunity for Rufus to feel any guilt about prolonging it.</p><p>The silk slipped smoothly over the blond’s face in a sharp colour contrast to the light tone of his freckled cheekbones, the thicker part of the fabric covering the boy’s eyes as Rufus secured a gentle knot at the side of his head. He was mindful not to catch any of the ruffled spikes of blond as he tightened it carefully, moving back just enough to better admire the beauty of his work. It was a most agreeable match, the dark shades brightening Cloud's already fair features to almost angelic proportions. A pretty celestial creature, one most would assume to be too powerful to keep, laying prostrate before him like a heavenly gift.  </p><p>“There we are," Rufus pressed a gentle kiss to the blond's brow, silk and skin smooth against his lips, "My Cloud.”</p><p>While it was a delight in itself to see the boy bound and at his mercy, the sheer pleasure of using his name was incomparable. It had been the first thing he had already taken that the boy was unaware of. The first of a great many things, if their heady kisses on the roof proved correct, and his Little Bird was completely unfamiliar with the spiralling heights of fulfillment he was willing to expose him to.</p><p>Rufus circled the bed until he could press a knee to the mattress, the sight of the boy’s unguarded back somehow making his unconscious defencelessness all the more potent. A hand at the gentle slope of his narrow waist where his stomach guard used to be stoked the hunger to touch even more as Rufus moved closer, laying down in his half buttoned shirt and suit trousers to better fit himself up against the curve of the blond’s spine. Close enough that he could feel the heat of him through the two thin layers of cloth between their skin, but not so close that he could meld them together as he so sorely wanted. </p><p>He brushed his hand down over the bony curve of a raised hip, tightening his grip as another low sound escaped the blond’s partly open mouth, and as his hand swept back up over the dark blue wool to feel again for the gentle thrum of his heart, it was no effort at all to pull the lax body into the cradle of his chest until he could duck his nose into blond hair, breathing in the intimate scent of him.</p><p>There was a faint floral trace, something flowery and sweet that didn’t quite fit beneath the bite of iron and the chemical tang of the Mako, but when Rufus pulled back to examine it he found himself distracted by the faint spider web of oddly luminous green pulsing at the nape of the boy’s neck. It was bright as the mako-fire flaring up into the sky around the city, muted only by thin layers of pale skin. There was a rosy ring of red around a small puncture wound, likely where Reno had caught him with the dart, and despite the risk of it, Rufus leaned in to press his lips to the wound that had put his Little Bird back into his arms again. </p><p>Had it not been for that, Cloud would have escaped his clutches into the wide world, keen mind and wiles all the weapons he needed to conceal himself from all who dared to seek him.</p><p>The skin had closed enough to prevent poisoning, he had no fear of that, and the sharp hiss of the body in his arms drawing breath against the sting was satisfying all by itself, but Rufus knew what his Little Bird sounded like in pain. He had already seen the beautiful things it did to those fair features, and given the boy was strong enough to survive a direct shot of Mako without needing to be stabilised, he had been made to withstand pain like it was an old friend to be expected. </p><p>Rufus wanted to hear him sing in pleasure, to see how well it suited him. To see how much he crumbled under the intensity of it.</p><p>It was a need so formidable he could barely stop himself from tearing the fabric beneath his hands into ribbons, to lay the definition of lithe muscle and pretty skin bare under his mouth and hands until Cloud was forced to cry his name in a beg for mercy.</p><p>A quick breath to ebb the tide was barely enough, but Rufus started as slow as he could will himself to go, gentle open mouthed kisses smoothing over blond spikes until he found the curve of the boy’s ear beneath them. </p><p>Cloud had such cute little ears, made for teasing, and Rufus used his teeth to nibble and tug at the shell of the one he laid his lips to until it turned pink under his attention. It was a shame that the pretty little piercing he’d seen on the roof was burrowed safely into the pillow, or he would have taken great pleasure in playing with it. Instead he aimed lower, over the soft flesh of the boys earlobe until he could nuzzle in behind the boys ear to toy with the sensitive stripe of skin there.</p><p>That garnered a sweet little mewl, Cloud’s bound hands straightening to stretch across the bed as he arched back against him, and Rufus smothered his soft laugh into the blond’s neck, opening his mouth to breathe cool air over the wet mark of his kiss. A full shift was his reward, curled legs straightening just enough that he was able to capture them between his own to uncurl him fully, the echo of a rippling shudder riding the notches of the spine pressed against his chest. </p><p>His Little Bird was so very responsive.</p><p>Rufus pressed more wet kisses into what he could reach of the boy’s throat above the obstruction of his turtleneck, easing more of the boy’s weight back against his own body until his tousled head rolled towards him with a quiet groan. Cloud followed his guidance beautifully, the soft evenness of his breath confirming he was still fast asleep as Rufus slipped his upper arm beneath the back of the boy’s skull, pillowing his head to keep any pressure from the healing wound at the back of his neck. </p><p>That bewitching face was turned up towards him now and Rufus stared down into it with something cusping the edge of longing, the plush invitation of a gently parted lips and soft breath just a little out of reach. The small distance was almost a gulf for how much he wanted to take hold of that mouth with his own as he had done mere hours before, the urge to tease the blond awake with lustful kisses until he was delirious with sensation as overwhelming as the sight of him lying so close. So vulnerable. </p><p>Cloud was blissfully unaware of every hungry thought being entertained over him, his freckled nose scrunching in dissatisfaction beneath the dark silk of the blindfold, shifting uncomfortably under the weight over his legs where Rufus was using one of his own to hold them down. He couldn't move much, bare feet pressing uselessly into the mattress, his bound hands lifting, only to drop heavily back to the bed like he didn’t have the strength to use them.</p><p>It was endearing, like watching a lover rolling in blankets, unsure if they were too hot or too cold, driven into restlessness by the indecision. The little freedom he could find was barely enough to roll, and without the momentum he needed, Cloud tipped back into the hold of the body behind him with a disgruntled huff, sweet little dozing noises edging closer into sweet little warning noises as he arched his neck in an awkward stretch. </p><p>Was he waking up?</p><p>Rufus watched avidly as pale toes slid over the silk sheets with nothing to find good traction in, awaiting the moment that awareness set in, and he would need to close his arms like a vice. </p><p>It didn't seem like it was time yet. </p><p>Cloud’s even breaths were too slow, too steady to even hint at the apprehension he should be feeling, limp muscles easily persuaded as Rufus surrendered to the most pressing of temptations, using his hold on the boy’s hip to impatiently drag the curve of the boy's ass back into the cradle of his hips in a tantalising half-grind to sate his own excitement. </p><p>It was like Ifrit's fire lit him up inside, sparking the short fuse of his self-control until it caught.</p><p>Cloud didn’t seem to notice, lost in the world between dreams and wakefulness as he was, twisting against him like they were fused together, and he wanted a way out.</p><p>He wouldn’t find one.</p><p>Rufus allowed himself to groan long and low into the boy’s exposed ear as he rolled his hips forward again, fingers tightening their grip over one of those squirming hips to try and keep him still, dragging him back harder so he could press his arousal into the firm muscle presented to him. He felt so good, despite the clothes between them. It was not exactly what he wanted. He didn't have those blazing eyes scouring him with all the fury of a tempest, the barbed tongue cursing him out as they tore and bit at each other. He didn't have slender wrists in his fists pushed down into the bedding until Cloud surrendered to the clash of them hungry for each other. He didn't have wild kisses turned soft and desperate, yearning and aching for him to make it better. </p><p>But, he had this. He had the potential of it. The calm before the storm.</p><p>Cloud eased under the rolling pressure of his hand like he’d been trained for it, head turning into Rufus' shoulder as his bound hands clutched at the silk sheets with a soft moan, and he was rewarded with another kiss into his hair as Rufus pressed a forceful knee up between the half-hearted clamp of muscled thighs, patient and unrelenting until he could coax them to spread. His hand slid down, leaving the appetising handle of the boy's hip to curl long fingers beneath his inner thigh, dragging his leg back over his own knee as he drew it up, and when he looked down along the length of their bodies, it was almost too much to resist, the SOLDIER splayed across his lap like a sacrificial lamb, the pressure perfectly rousing as he rolled his hips up into the inviting weight of him.</p><p>Rufus could practically feel the rush of red hot pleasure soaking through his skin until he felt submerged in it, stroking his hand up along the crease of his Little Bird's leg, the dip of his stomach and prominence of his ribs before sliding back down to clutch at the hem of his woolen shirt, tugging it free from his fatigues so he could touch the warm skin at his waist, the sharp curve of a bare hip where he planned to leave the purple kiss of finger-shaped bruises. </p><p>“Wake up, Little Bird.” </p><p>His own voice was alien to him, deep and ravenous, but he didn't want to linger on it, not when he had prettier things to focus on.</p><p>A sharp nip to the edge of the blond’s jaw did nothing to stir him, and it took a second scrape of teeth to provoke a confused sound from that open mouth. Cloud’s head turned away from the bite of it, hands shifting like he wanted to bat at whatever was bothering him, and while he couldn’t see those eyes fluttering beneath the makeshift blindfold of his tie, the bleed of tension into the shoulders against his chest was almost immediate. He seemed almost frozen for a moment, still, as though caught in the gaze of a predator. The breath he took caught in his throat with a dry click, head tilting down as if he could look at where Rufus' hand was clasped tight around the bare skin of his hip, and the blond’s hands twisted testingly in their bindings, halting at first, as though unsure, and then with more frantic urgency as the blond came awake enough to realise he was bound.</p><p>“What-” </p><p>Rufus’ eyes nearly rolled back at the breathless fear in that single sleep-soaked word, the boy’s voice rasping in the quiet, his elevated leg trying to kick where it was held high over Rufus' own, and doing nothing except squirming his little body back into Rufus’ arms with the most perfect friction he’d ever felt. He used the arm he had beneath the boy’s head to crush him in closer, bending his elbow until his forearm hooked loosely around the boy’s neck, fending off the panicked scramble of his hands as they tried to reach for his eyes and the blindfold that kept him in the dark.</p><p>“Shhh,” Rufus pressed a light kiss into his temple, his free hand sliding over exposed skin to press hard onto the boy’s stomach to anchor him down, what little air the boy had, forced out of his throat in his alarm. How that flat stomach heaved, the tranquil stillness of sleep lost to quivering beneath his touch, shivering through his Little Bird with what looked to be a consuming swell of terror, but when he slid his hand down further between the legs he held open with his own, he encountered the promising tent Cloud had made of his fatigues, and Rufus knew that wasn’t all it was.</p><p>The boy flinched away from his fingers like he didn’t know why they were there, but no direction he chose was safe. He was utterly surrounded by limbs that didn’t belong to him, held open in a way that made it difficult for him to find purchase on the silk sheets. That left him a desperate mess with nowhere to go but into the touches he couldn’t see, into the arms he couldn’t get out of, blindly working himself up until he was too confused to move.</p><p>It was intoxicating, how he trembled, that docile heart thundering like a storm in his chest.</p><p>“You’re mine, Little Bird.” </p><p>Rufus pressed another kiss over the black silk at the side of the boy’s head, deft fingers making quick work of the buttons and zipper that kept him from warm flesh, and Cloud tried to kick again, but he didn’t seem coordinated, wrists twisting in the knots Tseng had secured around them like he could foolishly attempt to wrench himself loose before he rubbed his skin raw with the effort.</p><p>Rufus cooed over him indulgently, fingers tugging at the now loose waist of his clothing until he could slip them beneath it.</p><p>“Hush now, I’ll make it all better.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WE ARE SO NOT DONE YET. COME YELL AT ME, PLZ~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Putting this one up early today, my darlings! I will be surprising my mum and dad with an early anniversary meal, paid for by me, prepared by my brother (because I am a heathen who melts unmeltable things in the kitchen and I CANNOT be trusted) tonight so I will likely be ocupado for the entirety of this evening. They might even make my reclusive ass play card games until the witching hour, Gaia forbid! I don't even drink, so I'll have to destroy any embarrassing memories with cold hard brick like a normal person.</p><p>Not a single thing in the above paragraph was sane. I am aware.</p><p>RUFUS IS A BAD, BAD MAN! We've established this already, yis? Good. Continuity is good. Not for Cloud. Well, maybe a tiny bit. </p><p>I'm not sorry~</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Warm skin and cheap cotton were a surprisingly pleasant mix of textures under his searching hand, and Rufus fought to keep his eyes open, his senses sharp as he devoured every single second of his boy unravelling like loose wisps of thread in his hands. He had barely touched, barely dared to linger as he so wished to, and already that fragile composure was cracking like thin ice under unsteady footing.</p><p>“Don’t-” Cloud’s initial refusal devolved into a quiet whimper as Rufus slid his hand further beneath his clothing, beneath the waist of his underwear. </p><p>The sound of his voice was so unusually meek, the tremor of it such a sharp contrast to the unerring confidence on the roof that Rufus could not stop himself from gently rolling his own arousal up against the press of the boy’s ass as he tried to shrink back, just so he could hear him plead again. </p><p>Another kiss graced the apple of a freckled cheek as Cloud refused to co-operate, the stubborn clench of his jaw as he swallowed his pretty noises back down almost loud enough to hear in the quiet of the room. Rufus clucked his tongue loudly in the younger’s ear in a soft reprimand. His Little Bird was fast becoming predictable in his defiance, but there was no room for pretense and false bravado in the bed they now shared. Those untruths could stay outside, where armour and weapons were called for. </p><p>He would pull honesty from the boy in his arms piece by hard-won piece if he had to.</p><p>Rufus shifted his fingers where they lay over the smooth plane of a taut abdomen, drawing Cloud’s attention back to the softness of his own skin as Rufus pressed lower, delving deeper, the curl of coarse hair enough to stoke his excitement. Cloud didn’t seem to enjoy his slow, inexorable progress, but there was nothing that he could do that wouldn’t be taken as encouragement.</p><p>He tried to lift his leg, to free it from where it was held wide so he could roll himself free, but the attempt was clumsy at best, and Rufus only tipped his own knee out further to stop him. Such a pitiful attempt. Was he that weary? Was the mako that overwhelming? Or, was Cloud just far too susceptible to the sway of it? </p><p>Rufus wasn’t fool enough to believe that he was choosing to relent under the guise of a token struggle.</p><p>The silk that held him was almost laughably thin and yet it still held him as if it were something much stronger. He hadn’t even had to threaten the use of the bangle on the boy’s skinny ankle, and Cloud hadn’t mentioned it despite how heavy it surely was. It shouldn’t bother him as much as it did, but something didn’t seem right. </p><p>Rufus resolved to ask his questions later. He would hold Cloud down and force him to talk if he had to, press the boy’s responsive little buttons until he spilled all the little secrets not found in his file. It would be a genuine pleasure to extract the information he needed that way, but for now, he had all the time in the world to revel in the might of SOLDIER, laid out like a pretty tribute to his betters, weakening under his power until all he could see was the cute little golden trooper in his arms. How he wanted to look into those eyes, even as the blinding of them left the blond all the more helpless than anticipated, and all the more delicious for it.</p><p>Would his Little Bird glare at him? Would he beg? Would he cry?</p><p>The possibilities were endless.</p><p>Rufus spread his fingers beneath the confines of stretched clothing, petting briefly at the curls he could feel, and imagining it as blond as the hair Cloud was tickling his face with as he shook his head in denial. He had hoped to ease the sudden panic labouring the boy’s breaths as he stroked his fingers further under the cotton he’d separated from heated skin, but it didn’t seem to help. </p><p>“Please, don’t...” Cloud’s voice sounded oddly small, frightened as he bucked desperately to try and move away from the hand sliding further between his spread thighs, his bound hands fumbling blindly to try and locate the hand that was touching him. Rufus grunted as the boy latched tightly around his wrist, hindering his movement just as his bare fingertips smoothed over the slick head of his cock. </p><p>Now, that wouldn’t do at all.</p><p>"Don't be difficult, Cloud." Rufus released the blond's neck only long enough to hook his fingers into the bindings of his wrists, unlatching the grip from his arm with very little force. Cloud’s soft cry of alarm was bitten back swiftly, a sweet little hiccup escaping like a squeak where he was trying to hold his breath as he fought to release his hands, but the purple silk was as easy to hold as the boy in his arms and his pathetic struggles only seemed to make the boy more frustrated. Cute. </p><p>Rufus yanked at his grip on the blond’s bindings, entertaining the brief weak struggle as Cloud fought him, before he dragged them up to hold them firmly to his Little Bird’s heaving chest. It was easier to keep them out of the way as he smeared the thumb of his other hand over the leaking tip of the boy’s cock, dipping lower until he could touch everything, emboldened by his Little Bird's shivering gasp. </p><p>It didn’t matter that the blond could barely move, his aborted wriggling and breathless complaint barely a deterrent. The exhaustion was likely a side effect of the mako. If it stopped his Little Bird from hurting himself, all the better, leaving Rufus free to enjoy the gorgeous cadence of the strangled noises pushing their way out of his throat as he rolled his hips up to grind into the body above him. He was so hard it hurt, and Cloud lolled in his arms with a panting cry, unable to resist as he was pressed up with the movement of it, Rufus pushing him up into the stroking circle of his fingers in turn. </p><p>The silken length of his cock was a perfect hand-full, warm and sensitive, wet to ease the way as he curled his hand around it to better enjoy the slippery slide of his reluctant pleasure, and it was easy to find a slow rhythm that would coax Cloud to move with him. Something that would have him seeking his pleasure instead of tolerating it, begging for it instead of protesting. </p><p>It was an excruciating few minutes of persuasion, Rufus murmuring seductive little nothings into the boy's ear to stir him, trying to quell his own need to roll the boy onto his stomach and rut into him until he was of a sound enough mind to torment his Little Bird until he screamed in gratification. The soft whimpers he received instead sounded wet with tears, the black silk of his tie damp over the boy’s eyes as he tried to resist the momentum Rufus was hoping he would surrender to. </p><p>The tight stretch of the boys clothing restricted his hand movements, and when Rufus resolved to let go of the boys cock to drag them down, Cloud seemed both bereft and defiant, squirming to try and prevent the removal of his last remaining dignity even as he whined plaintively at the loss of skin contact where he craved it most.</p><p>There were no words, Cloud biting as his lip to stem the pleas Rufus wanted to hear as he tugged the constricting material out of his way enough for it to catch at the spread of soft thighs. He spared a long passing stroke to the inside of one with his wet hand just to see Cloud toss his head at the teasing heat of it, before he caught the boy’s cock in his palm and pressed it down against his lower stomach, smearing the evidence of his arousal all over the boy’s bare skin.</p><p>The hoarse cry that was ripped out of the blond’s throat as he thrust up mindlessly into the pressure of the hand over him was enough to send a shiver down Rufus’ spine, the haughty words on the roof merely a blink of memory washed away, the defiant tone they’d been delivered in clearly refuted by the roll of Cloud’s body up into his hand again. His movements were staggered, faltering a little more than he had anticipated, though Rufus was enraptured with the thought that if it wasn’t exhaustion slowing him down, it could be inexperience. </p><p>“That’s it, my sweet thing, just like that...” </p><p>His Little Bird was distraught, biting savagely at his own mouth, his lower lip flushed and swollen from the cut of his own teeth. His hands struggled against his chest but Rufus held them firm, rubbing his open palm gently over the soft skin of his arousal until Cloud pressed up into it again, finding the pressure he needed. The next roll was more fluid, and Rufus pressed down a bit more as a reward, until he could feel Cloud circling his hips where he wanted them, stimulating himself as he was stimulating Rufus.</p><p>“You’re doing so well.” Rufus tried to keep his voice steady, but it was difficult. The constant stream of needy noises pouring from Cloud’s closed mouth sounded divine, his breath short like it wouldn’t slow enough for him to catch it, “You sound absolutely beautiful. Let me hear you, Cloud. Let it all go for me.” </p><p>It felt like permission, and Cloud tensed in his arms like he wanted to refuse.</p><p>Outright disobedience. </p><p>Rufus huffed a small laugh into the blond’s neck as Cloud tugged again at his hands, suddenly, as if to catch Rufus off guard. His grip did not give, as unrelenting as it had been when he had first captured them, and though it took effort, Cloud stilled his rolling hips, biting hard enough at his lip that a bright bead of blood rolled down over the fair skin of his lower lip.</p><p>It was infuriating. It was beguiling. Was his Little Bird such a glutton for punishment?</p><p>“Naughty, naughty. You’re trying to test me, but you’re only making this harder on yourself,” Rufus kept his voice low and soft, pressing his mouth to the sensitive shell of the boy's ear until it was all he could hear, the shudder through the body against him a telling sign of how thin Cloud’s grasp of his self-control really was, “Do you want me to leave you like this, Cloud? Surely it must hurt by now?”</p><p>He ground his palm down hard, pressing the flushed silk of the boy’s cock against the muscles of his lower stomach until it was sandwiched between two tempting layers of stimulation, and Cloud’s head tipped back like it was too heavy for him to hold anymore. That pink swollen mouth opened, and the moan that came out was so lamenting and grateful that Rufus fisted a hand around the boy's cock to hear more of it. Patience be damned.</p><p>“Do you want me to stop, Cloud?” Rufus pressed firm kisses down from the boys ear to his face, encouraging him to turn his head, and Cloud followed his silent command like he’d been guided on a string, the dark silk over his eyes obscuring his gaze but looking up at Rufus none-the-less, “Do you want me to leave you desperate, and begging, and unfulfilled? I can do that, if you want me to. All you have to do is tell me.”</p><p>“No...” Cloud’s voice broke, the sound of his voice scratchy from tears, “I want-”</p><p>“You want?” Rufus rolled his hips up hard into the bare skin of the blond’s ass. He hadn’t a hand spare to remove his own clothing so the friction would have to do, and as he tightened his grip around Cloud’s cock to coax another gorgeous moan from that unoccupied mouth, Cloud pressed down into him, deliberately writhing against his lap, “Oh, that’s good, my Cloud. That’s wonderful. You’re so good for me.”</p><p>Cloud’s breath stuttered, thigh muscles clenching where they were spread and Rufus could see them, and it drew a wicked smile over his face as his hand released the grip on the purple silk to tilt Cloud’s face up higher. His other hand started up a slow pace, the leak of pre-cum abundant enough to turn every stroke to an indulgent glide, and Cloud’s hips rocked up and back in a building momentum, using the cradle of Rufus body to push himself closer to the edge. His Little Bird lost to sensation was one of the most provocative things he had ever seen.</p><p>“Do you like it when I talk to you?” Rufus dropped a light chaste kiss on the blond’s panting mouth, teasing him with the possibility of more, and Cloud arched his neck up tellingly, “Do you like it when I say you’re good? That you please me?”</p><p>That blond head moved in what seemed to be a faint nod, even if Cloud didn’t say the word, but Rufus was still overcome. He wanted to hold Cloud down in his lap and press his way inside of him, wanted to bite and mark his claim over pale skin until he bloomed with purple roses in the shape of his mouth. He wanted to lap up the trail of blood over the boy’s chin to know what he tasted like on the most base and primal level. There was probably a reason he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t remember if it was important enough for him to care. He did it anyway, warm wet tongue leaving a trail of saliva up to Cloud’s mouth, and he took that unclaimed territory like a King conquering a neighbouring kingdom, sucking on the bitten lower lip until it yielded more of that chemical iron tang. </p><p>Cloud was a mess against him, submitting to the rush of pleasure that consumed him in the wake of the kiss and rutting up into his hand like he was on the cusp of something great. Rufus followed his lead, rolling up as Cloud came down, grinding the clothed evidence of his arousal up between spread legs like he could fuck his Little Bird into a stupor through the expensive fabric. It all felt so good, Rufus was too distracted to imagine exactly how it might feel when he could finally hold the boy open on his cock. He would never be able to prepare for it until he had the sweet reality of it. Cloud would be stunning, stripped bare and speared through, clutching on for dear life as he was wrung for every drop of satisfaction he could tolerate. Rufus intended to wreck him so thoroughly, he'd never feel good without it. </p><p>It was the most graceless, glorious thing when Cloud finally surrendered, his body tightening into an arch so sharp his spine seemed to curl, his shout of euphoria swallowed up into Rufus’ mouth as he kissed the blond so thoroughly that he could barely breathe. Warm white fluid splashed over the concave of his bare stomach and even up over the ugly knit of his SOLDIER uniform, stark against the dark shade of it and glittering like pearls under the dimmed lights, every muscle seizing like they had all been woken up all at once. It still wasn’t enough. Rufus kissed at his gasping mouth, dipping his tongue inside while Cloud was too tired to fend him off, and his hand never stopped, twisting around tender flesh, stroking him through it all to the point of pain. Cloud’s softening cock was rosy and limp in his hand by the time his Little Bird's orgasmic cries began to shatter into overstimulated whining.</p><p>Just the sound of it was enough, Rufus’ wet hand releasing Cloud's cock to clamp down hard on the bone of his Little Bird’s hip as he held him still, seeking his own release like a man possessed. He found it easily enough, spurred on by the echo of Cloud’s shaky breaths, nuzzling down to bite hard into the blond’s shoulder. The coarse wool fabric tasted unpleasant against his tongue, but it did nothing to detract from the all too present fizz of indomitable bliss coursing through him, Cloud squirming over him with a quiet yelp of surprise anyway, finding no energy to arch away from the teeth digging into him through the barrier of his shirt.</p><p>The room fell quiet as they settled back into the mattress, heavy breath and silk sheets rustling the only sound to disturb them.</p><p>Rufus groaned as he released the blond’s sore shoulder from the clench of his jaw, reaching back to rub his wet hand against the sheets until most of the mess was taken care of. In a more ideal world, he’d be able to taste his Little Bird, familiarise himself with his flavour to see if it was something that appealed. With the mako in his system and no tests done to check his cleanliness, that was an experiment better left to another time. </p><p>That he’d already tasted his blood when it wasn’t confirmed safe to do so yet was a concern yet to be addressed. Cloud had driven him so mindless with lust that it hadn’t seemed significant enough to overrule his baser instincts at the time.</p><p>The blond was spent in his arms, every line and limb of him lax into exhaustion, tears streaking down his cheeks where he’d soaked through the blindfold, breaths still stuttering with gentle sobs like he was un-anchored, but too tired to care.</p><p>Rufus gathered him up into his arms as he turned onto his side to let Cloud down onto the comfort of the bed instead of leaving him to lie half over his own body, rubbing gently at the joint of his hip to ease the ache as he lowered his knee, letting the boy’s spread leg drop to rest with its twin on the mattress. Cloud hissed under his breath as he tucked his knees up towards his chest like he was ashamed and needed to protect himself. He didn’t need to. Not here. Not before Rufus built him back up. He was safe, but Rufus knew that Cloud would swing a sword at him before he would allow himself to believe it. </p><p>He was so quiet, so small like that. As if he’d fallen asleep, but his breath was too shallow for it, still thin and trying to even itself out.</p><p>Rufus wanted to strip him down, make him comfortable. Perhaps bathe him and wrap him in fresh sheets so they could settle down for the night, but they had reached the crossroads of the evening, and Cloud could either fight, or allow himself to be cared for. It was a precipice that could end with an accepted hand, or a devastating fall, and Cloud had yet to speak. Yet to move.</p><p>Rufus knew he should have expected it.</p><p>The elbow came out of nowhere, hitting him in the throat before he could catch it fully. He managed to block most of the blow with his jaw, which ached, but it was clear Cloud was not at full strength, especially as he rolled out of Rufus’s arms and off the bed with less than his usual finesse, landing in a tangled heap on the carpet with a muted grunt. </p><p>The blindfold was the first to go, Cloud yanking it off of his head with clumsy fingers, so roughly it looked like he caught some of his hair in his grip as he pulled. Bewildered blue-green eyes, all the more vibrant for the red rim of tears around them, winced up into the dimmed light as Cloud turned his gaze down low, using his bound arms to push himself upright and tugging at his shirt, pulling it down to cover as much of his modesty as he could manage. It wasn’t much, and he knew it, bristling like an angry cat at his own helplessness.</p><p>When Rufus shifted on the bed, rubbing at the side of his throat and determined not to lose his temper, Cloud flinched back, his legs still ungainly and resistant to the strain of movement as he tried to push himself back over the carpet. It was awkward, his thighs still strangely trapped in his half-removed fatigues and underwear. </p><p>He scrambled like a frightened animal, barely managing to pitifully push himself back into the wall by the bathroom door, Rufus making no move to follow as it was clear the blond was disorientated and no harm to anyone. His eyes were darting around the room, noting its unfamiliarity, not finding anything beyond soft furnishings to use to defend himself, and he turned his attention to the silk at his wrists. His fingers were not long enough to pick at his bindings, but in his panic, he didn’t seem to want to wait, lifting his wrists to bite at the silk in his desperation.</p><p>“Please don’t do that.” Rufus kept his voice low to avoid startling the blond, not quite sure what prompted this reaction from his Little Bird, but in no hurry to see more of it, “You will hurt yourself.”</p><p>“Why do you care?” The tone was petulant, wounded, and with the new twang of a pronounced accent that he couldn’t quite identify, “After you did… after...”</p><p>Cloud shuddered against the wall like he was reliving the crest of his pleasure, bound wrists pressing up against the flushed side of his face as he tried to scrape together some semblance of composure. </p><p>“You enjoyed it.” Rufus wanted to smile at him as he tested the air between them with a challenge Cloud couldn’t refute. He wanted to goad strength back into his prey, to encourage Cloud’s anger in a way that had made him stand bright and fiery against a dark night sky, “You can’t deny that you did.”</p><p>Blue eyes turned to look up at him, burning beautifully, yes, but coldly, with a lack of recognition that instantly cooled any residual heat Rufus could feel simmering low from their sordid entanglement.</p><p>“I don’t even know who you are!” Cloud’s voice was hoarse, absolutely miserable, on the verge of a shriek, “Why am I even here?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>GOODNESS GRACIOUS, DID I GO THERE? YES I WENT THERE. STILL NOT SORRY!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not gonna lie, this was a hard chapter to write. I'll let you guys read it and then make a decision, but I need a vote from you.</p><p>Next weeks update! Do you want the next chapter of 'Tread Softly', or, do you want TsengxReno(+Rude) smut, because I sadly cannot do both in a week, and porny Turk-related plot bunnies are frolicking in my mind~</p><p>Both are going to get updated regardless, but I only update once a week, so let me know what you pick?</p><p>Thank you, my darlings! </p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rufus paused on the verge of standing, incredulity sinking inside of him with leaden heaviness until the sheer weight of it forced him to settle back onto the edge of the bed. His hands fisted subtly into the thread count of the sheets to keep himself seated as he stared down at his Little Bird, the mere sight of him just enough to soothe the sudden brew of discontentment in his chest. The day had been won, the throne secured, and he had captured his most triumphant conquest, his prized trophy. The literal cherry on the top of his perfect day.</p><p>Or, what should have been his perfect day.</p><p>Even through the layers of his admittedly damp clothes, Rufus felt cold.</p><p>“Are you saying you don’t know me?” </p><p>“I don’t know.” The blond retorted sharply, his challenging tone cut by the way his voice cracked with strain, curling his legs up against his own body until he was mostly able to conceal himself behind the bunched up fabric of his dishevelled fatigues, “Should I?”</p><p>The room stilled again, Rufus just managing to refrain from rubbing at his own forehead the way he sometimes did when the migraine-inducing cadence of Heidegger’s booming laugh cut across a Board room. The only movement was the shift of Cloud’s heaving chest as he tried to regain his breath, the words he’d thrown out raw enough that he moved his bound hands down to the front of his throat, fingers slipping under the wool neck of his uniform to rub out the ache there. His cheeks were still wet from the tears that had spilled after he’d torn off the blindfold, and he was licking nervously at his lips.</p><p>Rufus couldn’t even find pleasure in the thought that Cloud was subconsciously seeking the taste of him, left behind after their numerous electrifying kisses.</p><p>It was absurd. Mystifying. </p><p>Cloud didn’t remember.</p><p>His words were not deliberately chosen. They were not a calculated protest from a captive pleading for amnesty from his unwanted advances. Rufus could have accepted any of that, would have rejoiced in any of that. </p><p>Those denials would have been a mercy.  </p><p>Instead, the brief poisonous sentiments that had passed through kiss-bitten lips were laced with enough confusion, enough fear that it provoked a strange sort of wistfulness in Rufus for what he thought he had caught in his snare. Not the SOLDIER he’d laid claim to, not even the willful eco-terrorist that had adamantly denied said claim. </p><p>Cloud was no less stunning in his despair, no less desirable for how those eyes were burning back at him with the vigilant gaze of a creature aware of the trap closing around it, but it was not the same. He was not the same. </p><p>Did he even know his own name? </p><p>If he cared to look, the open skyline around the other side of the bed could tell him exactly where he was, but Cloud’s eyes did not stray from what he perceived to be the greater danger in the room. The man he didn’t know. The one who had held him down and touched him, used his body for things his shy little brain could barely comprehend.</p><p>And, worse. His Little bird had no idea to whom he belonged.</p><p>That was not what Rufus wanted.</p><p>He had wanted that indomitable spirit, the one that looked him in the eyes and told him ‘No’. Somehow it had managed to evade him through the most unexpected of ways. He’d wanted to swallow it whole, to soak it up into his own so he could give it back to Cloud in pieces, but it had shattered itself so thoroughly on its own that he could not hope to make Cloud understand exactly what was happening in the way he had meant to. </p><p>He’d had a lesson to teach, trying to burrow his claim so deeply under that surprisingly soft skin it could never be dug back out, and even if Cloud had managed to learn that lesson, the nuance of it was lost with Cloud’s memory of their connection to each other, and any satisfaction Rufus had hoped to glean from his accomplishment, beyond the physical, had been snatched out of reach with those few devastating words. </p><p>Rufus tried to steady the frantic race of his thoughts. </p><p>Was this the mako? It was all too plausible there would be side effects not yet known, or at least, some that occurred as a rarity. Reno had listed the most common ones, but amnesia hadn’t been among them. Or, had Cloud hit his head, and Reno neglected to mention anything? It couldn't have been easy to bring him down. Reno had said he was on a bike of some sort, and the tranquiliser gun would have required a certain amount of distance for Reno to catch the blond off guard. Did he fall? Maybe he fell too hard? </p><p>Rufus knew he would need to bring the redhead in for a second debriefing just in case. Better to be thorough. </p><p>And, calm. </p><p>Above all things, calm.</p><p>“What do you remember?” </p><p>“It’s all... hazy.” Cloud’s eyes looked brittle, flinty and untrusting as they stared up at Rufus, his words halting like he didn’t know how much to share. </p><p>Rufus could begrudgingly admit that it was a smart tactic. If he remembered anything about their interactions, even without a face for the name, he would have every right to be discreet, and if he couldn’t remember anything about himself beyond waking up with a stranger’s hands all over his body without his explicit consent, that too would be reason enough for caution. He hadn't known Cloud long, nor given too much thought towards the blond's thought processes beyond the many lascivious thoughts he'd entertained regarding his Little Bird, but overly-cautious seemed a reasonable personality trait to identify him by.</p><p>“Who are you?” </p><p>Bold was another word he would use. There was an attempt at bravado in the clench of the jaw, the furrowing of that ever-worried brow. It was a whisper of what he’d been faced with on the roof, but still pleasant to see, even in so fragile a state as it seemed when the voice of the demand was still curled half-dressed against the bedroom wall. </p><p>“Where am I?” </p><p>Cloud seemed to have many questions, and was not inclined to wait for the answers.</p><p>Rufus wanted to laugh, but the taste of it was bitter instead of the sweetly victorious thrill he’d felt at holding that shuddering body against his own, racking it with pleasure. Cloud was staring up at him as if he could compel answers from his lips, and he could tell him anything. Absolutely anything. He could deliver a lie so silkily that Cloud’s undoubtedly honest heart would set aside his own suspicions to lap it up as the purest form of truth. He could spin stories about romantic trysts and illicit affairs. The scandal of a SOLDIER being chosen by someone of his standing, and how Cloud should be grateful to have caught his eye. There were many ways he could spin this to his advantage.</p><p>But, he didn’t want that. </p><p>Rufus had been called manipulative before. Nefarious. Conniving. There’d even been a memorable night at a charity gala where, among the swathes of the powerful that threw meagre decimal percentages of their amassed wealth at the causes that benefit them most, Scarlett had been bolstered enough by her fifth glass of champagne to throw the word ‘dastardly’ in his face.</p><p>Hateful shrew.</p><p>He’d lie to her without a second thought. But, Cloud?</p><p>His Little Bird deserved to know exactly how he came to be where he was, exactly why Rufus wanted to march across the room and throw him back on the bed, shake him until he remembered and then fuck his brains out so thoroughly that it would be the only memory left in his pretty little head. Cloud deserved to know that he’d brought that on himself, his bright eyes and his stubborn mouth and his-</p><p>“I asked you who you are.” </p><p>Each word was punctuated, clipped with a desperate edge that sounded on the verge of hysteria, but Cloud’s face gave nothing of that emotion away, scowling like he was severely put out by the whole ordeal. The tacky tracks of saline on his face had gone dry, and there was nothing imploring about his temperament. If he were properly dressed, Rufus could imagine him standing close enough to touch, arms folded over his narrow chest like he could weave intimidation from thin air.</p><p>It did nothing to ease the disappointment, but Rufus was admittedly glad to see that spark of fire in his Little Bird was still flickering despite his fear.</p><p>“My name is Rufus. Rufus Shinra. I am-”</p><p>“That’s bullshit, don’t lie to me.” Cloud’s tone was curt, biting as he pressed up closer to the wall, setting his back to it like he couldn’t trust the room around him, eyes flickering down just long enough to take in the full state of his undress, a fleeting glimmer of distress twisting the moue of his mouth before he locked it down, “You’re too old.”</p><p>Rufus barked out a short laugh at the cheek, loud enough for Cloud to flinch at it, braced for attack even if he was nowhere near ready for it.</p><p>“I lie about many things, Cloud,” He stood up from the bed, but instead of moving towards Cloud, he turned to head for the bedroom door, “But, never my name.”</p><p>He was gone only for a few seconds, returning to the room with a PHS in hand, expression faintly amused at how Cloud looked up from tearing at his bindings with his teeth again in his absence. The already rich purple silk was darker where he’d put his mouth to it, but no less worn. Rufus didn’t miss the way the blond’s eyes moved quickly to the door and back, noting that it remained slightly open. That had been deliberate, to make his Little Bird feel less trapped. Odd, considering only an hour ago, that had been exactly how he’d wanted him to feel. Wrapped up so tightly in his confines that he would cave to the only comfort afforded him.</p><p>The calculating look on the boy’s face was enough to make him reconsider giving Cloud a glimpse of the penthouse beyond the bedroom, even as he continued to twist his hands fruitlessly in the now wet silk, the skin beneath beginning to pink from the pressure.</p><p>“I will undo those if you promise to behave.” Rufus gestured to Cloud’s wrists as he settled back onto the edge of the bed, a safe distance away. He was momentarily distracted as he pressed a button on his device and lifted it to his ear, fixing Cloud with an expectant look that the blond only glowered at in response, but his voice was flat when whoever was on the other end of the line picked up the call.</p><p>“Penthouse. Now.”</p><p>The phone was tossed on the bed behind him, Cloud following its brief descent with a cautious flick of his mesmerising eyes, “Who was that?”</p><p>“A mediating party.” Rufus shifted uncomfortably on the bed, the wet fabric of his trousers clinging to him in places he’d rather they not, but he didn’t want to spook the already flighty blond by removing his clothing before they’d at least managed to establish enough trust that his Little Bird wouldn’t hurt himself doing something courageously stupid. </p><p>“What are you-” Cloud glanced down at his lap as if curious, but when his gaze caught on the darker patch staining pristine white, his cheeks flushed so violently he looked feverish, his eyes averting fast enough that he almost knocked his head into the wall behind him. It was entirely too difficult not to do anything about it. Doubly so when, realising his mistake, Cloud was forced to look back at him to ensure he was ready if Rufus decided to use his embarrassment as a means to get closer, to catch him off guard. </p><p>Rufus was pleased to see that Cloud would still fight. He was even more pleased by the way the blond met his eyes while he was still so obviously mortified at where he had just let his eyes wander. It was the kind of look Rufus expected he would get to see as he pushed his Little Bird down on his back, a mix of bashful contempt and outright recalcitrance. That look, paired with the beautiful noises he now knew Cloud made in the throes of passion were almost enough to summon him from the edge of the bed. </p><p>He was saved from his own lack of restraint as Reno poked his head around the door. Having made no sound at all in the main lounge of the penthouse, his sudden appearance was swift enough that Cloud let out a started yelp, nearly tipping over he tried to turn his body to shield his bare skin from prying eyes.</p><p>“Trouble in paradise, Boss?” Reno eyed Cloud in his state of undress for all of a second before he turned his gaze back to Rufus, as if hoping for an explanation. He clearly hadn’t expected to be called back up quite so soon, and the tension in the room was apparently not the kind that he expected to walk into. </p><p>Rufus narrowed his eyes at Reno when he opened his mouth to ask, shaking his head minutely to silence his questions before he could give away more than he intended to share.</p><p>“Cloud appears to have had an adverse reaction to the mako.” He explained succinctly, never one to waste a moment if there was no need, but he ensured his words were both deliberate and slow, heavy with implication that Reno picked up with little effort, “Somehow it has affected his memory, in a capacity we are not sure of yet. He seems to be a bit... out of sorts.”</p><p>Reno turned to gape at the blond, face comically blank of anything but shock for a second, and Cloud scowled back at him, knowing enough to not be unfamiliar with the feeling of being judged and found wanting. The redhead cocked his head as he looked back at Shinra’s new pinnacle, appearing laughably out of his element in a way Rufus had never seen before.</p><p>“I’m no expert on mako, Boss,” He sputtered out, incredulously, “What can I even do?”</p><p>“I need you to confirm my identity for his sake, as he does not remember who I am.” Rufus’ smile was thin, but warm with mirth, “He did not believe me when I told him.”</p><p>Cloud scoffed loudly, face pinched at the breathlessness of his own voice, shifting his bare feet and cringing as the cold of the bangle on his ankle finally became known to him, pressed as it was against the bare skin of his other leg, “That’s because it’s impossible, and you’re a liar.”</p><p>“Aw shit, Blondie,” Reno made a face that looked halfway between half-manic glee and an attempt at remorse, a twisted sort of smile that did nothing to soothe Cloud, “That stuff really messed you up, yo.”</p><p>“Reno. My identity please.” Rufus didn’t look away from Cloud who was glancing back and forth between the both of them, as if keeping two strangers in his sight-lines when he was bound and half naked would keep him safe. He continued to look more and more hopelessly lost with each passing minute, the stress of the moment enough to distract from his own personal feelings. He would drop soon, body weary, the shock easing out of tense shoulders even as they remained bunched up high around his neck in anxiousness. Rufus needed him back in his arms to ease what he knew would come when Cloud reached his limit.</p><p>“You’re the President of Shinra.” Reno responded slowly, as if it was obvious.</p><p>Cloud looked even more alarmed at that, eyes wide and ever so blue as he looked up at Rufus like what he’d just heard was even more nonsensical than anything that came before. He didn’t even appear to be breathing, air caught in his lungs like fluttering butterflies in a net.</p><p>“Name, Reno.” Rufus kept his voice calm, but it was still crisp enough that Reno jumped to obey.</p><p>“Rufus Shinra.”</p><p>“Thank you. Stand outside, close the door.”</p><p>“But, Boss-”</p><p>“Now, please.”</p><p>Reno was quick to comply, his mouth closing mid-protest, snapping a sharp salute as he backed out of the room as swiftly and silently as he had appeared. The door, thankfully, did not close completely behind him, drawn shut just enough to leave a gap. Reno was clearly not taking any chances, but that was fine. His Little Bird needed no more reasons to work himself up. </p><p>“Cloud, I need you to breathe.” Rufus eased up off the bed, careful to move slowly as the blond turned his full attention to him, tensing up like a tight bowstring ready to snap, forcing another lungful of air into his overworked body. The closer Rufus got to him, the more he could see the minute trembling in his arms, that his Little Bird’s lip was bleeding again where he’d worried it with his teeth. Did mako poisoning affect his healing? Or did he just have a habit of biting too deeply?</p><p>Rufus vowed to find out.</p><p>“Your name is Cloud Strife, born in August 1986. You are in Shinra Tower.”</p><p>“I know all of that.” Cloud tried to get his knees beneath himself, as if he could scramble to his feet and run if Rufus got too close, hands lifted in front of him like he could use them to bludgeon anyone who dared to invade his personal bubble, “Tell me something I don’t know.”</p><p>“You’ve been poisoned.” Rufus waited a moment to let it sink in. Cloud did not seem to react at all beyond sliding awkwardly back to the floor with his legs tangled up even further in his own clothes. For a moment, his gaze wandered over to the skyline beyond the wall of windows across the room, head tilting like he was listening for something, but Rufus could hear nothing. Nothing beyond the rush of Cloud’s breaths as he spiralled, "Cloud? Did you hear me?"</p><p>“You said mako.” Cloud’s eyes were misted over, worryingly shrouded, voice slow as if he were trying to put his words in the right order before he could say them, “Before. You said I reacted to the mako.”</p><p>“Yes. I did.” Rufus wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch, and Cloud blinked, jolting slightly as he realised Rufus had come much closer, the sound of his voice much more present, “It may not just be your memory that has been affected, and I would like to ensure you are healthy. Do you feel dizzy? Does anything hurt?”</p><p>Cloud slumped back against the wall with a wince, curling his legs up tighter against himself, his cheeks flushing brighter as he once again tugged at his clothes, more conscious now that Rufus was close enough to see more of him. He was still uncovered, and trying to conceal as much of himself as possible. Rufus wanted to look, wanted to see him uncomfortable and shy as he tried to wrap himself up and hide, but he didn’t dare look away from those shifting blue eyes that suddenly seemed to want to look anywhere but directly at him.</p><p>Like his photo. Like the nervous little trooper that gave himself to Shinra at such a young age.</p><p>“My neck hurts… I feel really drowsy, like I’ve been-” Cloud reached up to touch his neck but thought better of it, fingers brushing awkwardly at his own hair, “You said mako…”</p><p>His eyes seem to catch on the garments he was trying to clothe himself in, staring down at himself in befuddlement. His hands stilled over the colour of his shirt, and Rufus had the distinct pleasure of watching a bright spark of joy catch and spread over his Little Bird’s pretty face, chasing away the darkness he’d been staring into since Cloud had thrown himself off the bed.</p><p>“Is this a SOLDIER uniform?" Bound hands clutched at the wool of his shirt like he'd never seen it before, "Did I pass for SOLDIER?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Amnesiac!Cloud is all over the shop, my dudes. I'm thinking of it as whiplash, but with emotions. There's so many different Cloud people in Cloud's brain, all vying for the steering wheel, that he's an absolute mess. He'll start to level out, don't worry, but I hope I got all the scrambled mix of his headspace right here. </p><p>He's not okay. He might be soon, but he's really not right now. Poor baby. RUFUS, GIVE HIM SOME DAMNED SPACE WOULDYA PLZ?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh, my darlings, this week has sucked SO MUCH, that you could put it in a box and sell it as a hoover. I swear. The only thing that's gone right this week is that I did not crawl into a corner and cry over not writing this chapter. I persevered. I wanted something to WORK, and hopefully, this will be my one triumph for the mess that is *gestures vaguely at the entire planet* all of that. Seriously, I empathise so much with Cloud right now. Everything is a damned disaster. I need to ask our resident Little Bird if redhead's are allowed in the Broody Blond Corner. I need a Time Out.</p><p>How are you all coping with the madness of the world today? I hope you're all doing well, and keeping safe~</p><p>Alright, on with the show!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Is this a SOLDIER uniform?" Bound hands clutched at the wool of his shirt like he'd never seen it before, "Did I pass for SOLDIER?” </p><p>The joy passed so swiftly it was like it had never been there, buried under confusion as Cloud looked back up at him with disarmingly earnest blue eyes, disbelief written all over his pretty features.</p><p>“That can’t be right. The colour is wrong. I-” His breath was catching in his throat, shallow and reedy, and when Rufus caught his eyes, he could see the dilation of his pupils as they spread, the mako fused with the thin ring of his iris bright enough to flare like blue flame, “Is this… is this a prank?” </p><p>The very thought of it seemed to snap something vital inside of him and without waiting to hear what he anticipated to be a devastating confirmation, Cloud hunched down on himself with a shudder like he was trying not to crack right down the middle with sorrow. The switch between emotions was wild, chaotic, and Rufus was almost at the end of his tether with being delicate. It was rare that he ever felt the need to, and there were few he needed to be careful enough around to force it. Fewer now that the Old Man was plaguing the Lifestream that he had shown so little respect for while he was alive. </p><p>Rufus knew SOLDIER appeared to have been a very important part of what his Little Bird had wanted to accomplish in Shinra, for reasons Rufus could not yet fathom. His file didn’t confirm why he was so adamant to join, only that he had tried and failed the allotted three times.</p><p>It wasn’t even like he could ask him why it was so important. The boy might not even remember, and the question might wind him up even more. He just needed to calm down, overwrought and exhausted as he was. The mako in his system seemed to be fraying the last of his nerves with whatever strength the small vial of it had left.</p><p>“No, Cloud,” Rufus dared to move a little closer, pleased when Cloud remained where he was, making no effort to move away, “It’s not a trick. The mako has made you ill. It was in your file that you might be sensitive to it, which looks to be why they denied your initial applications.” </p><p>“But-” The blond tugged again at his shirt like he could make the dark shade of the First Class uniform any more apparent, and Rufus found it hard to avert his eyes from the few milky drops of fluid that still clung to it, glimmering obscenely in the light. The evidence of what he had been able to do to the boy, even if Cloud didn’t know or understand why at the moment, stirred a deep-seated need to shake sense into his Little Bird so he could do it again. He would ensure it was done properly the next time, with Cloud fully conscious and entirely aware. No room for doubt, or error, or pointless denials. </p><p>Cloud would know exactly who he belonged to.</p><p>Rufus quickly looked up from the damp patch of the blond’s chest like he had been caught staring at bare skin, even if Cloud didn’t realise anything was amiss at all, too adamant in his questioning.</p><p>Perhaps a white lie. Something small. There was no other explanation he could give.</p><p>“This uniform is a spare.” Rufus barely restrained his need to look down again, to watch the dark spots soak into the cheap, ragged-looking wool. SOLDIER uniforms looked so damned uncomfortable. So aesthetically dull and uninviting, and Cloud was raising so much fuss over such a little thing. Rufus would much prefer to dress him in silks and finery, in cotton so rich he would feel he was among his namesake, “The one we had for you was doused in contaminants when you collapsed, and we could not safely remove you from the lab without changing your clothes.”</p><p>Cloud’s hands dropped to his knees, resting there like he didn’t know what to do with them, biting for a moment at his lip, the same one he had made bleed only minutes earlier. He looked unmistakably shy, looking up at Rufus from under the ruffled spikes of blond that framed his face.</p><p>“I really made it into SOLDIER?” </p><p>Was it possible for someone so strong to look so adorable? Rufus was certain it was a fluke. Cloud was not the patented SOLDIER material deliberately chosen for enhancement. Too small. Too sweet. Too… unremarkable, if his file was anything to go by. It was a fact that reminded Rufus of all the red flags he had yet to investigate. There was absolutely nothing in his file that confirmed why he was chosen, or how his enhancements even came to be. </p><p>But, even so, the eyes were sufficient proof. The raw prowess he’d displayed on the roof was sufficient proof. How could Rufus do anything but nod, when all the signs were there.</p><p>“Oh Gaia, I can't wait to tell-” Cloud paused all too suddenly, a soft gasp punched out of his chest like he’d been surprised, his worried frown collapsing into an anguished sort of melancholy, “Oh…”</p><p>Rufus tilted his head to keep his eyes on Cloud’s face as he tried to fold into himself. The change was almost akin to whiplash. He had diminished so quickly from something beautifully excited to looking so very lost, biting even harder into his lower lip like a bad sort of habit as his eyes closed, squeezing shut hard enough that it looked like it hurt. The sheen of his eyes escaped, streams of tears clinging like dew in the dark blond of his lashes before they burst, trickling silently over the curve of his cheeks.</p><p>Rufus remained silent as he eased closer on his knees, daring to reach forward. </p><p>Cloud was so distressed that he didn’t react at all to the hands that slid around his back, around his shoulders. He didn’t recoil from the person that had touched him so freely before he’d squirmed his way off of the bed. Instead, he allowed himself to be pulled away from the wall until he was curling up into the embrace of warm arms, desperate for comfort. His own bound arms folded up into his chest like he was trying to make himself smaller, shoulders hitching in a shuddering breath. </p><p>Cloud suffered so beautifully, so quietly. He seemed to be swallowing down his noises like his grief was a nuisance to everyone around him. It was no wonder his usual temperament was as stoic and uncompromising as tempered steel. The world was not kind to those with such a gentle disposition, exploitation a near constant threat, especially in Midgar. Softness was a weakness too many people would take advantage of, and Rufus was not ashamed to do the same. As he folded his Little Bird into his embrace, he could almost pretend the lack of protest meant that Cloud was eager, that he would only accept his comfort alone, and he was more than willing to give it.</p><p>“What’s wrong, Cloud?”</p><p>A gentle sob wracked the frame in his arms.</p><p>“I wanted to tell someone. That I finally made it. Someone important,” Clouds swallowed thickly like his throat was blocked, voice wet and trembling as he turned his face into Rufus’ shirt to hide, “I just… I can’t remember who.”</p><p>Rufus didn’t need long to understand exactly what Cloud meant. He could tell him the name of the person he was trying so desperately to remember, if he was inclined. Could call to mind the cute little photograph sitting in the file in his office drawer, the cordial image of Cloud as a petite trooper next to a tower of muscle and smiling eyes, hair as thick and dark and unruly as Cloud’s was bright and soft. </p><p>Zack Fair. </p><p>Rufus hushed him gently, cradling the blond’s messy head to his chest as he tightened his grip around the curl of his body, pulling him closer. </p><p>He did not speak.</p><p>Zack had disappeared five years ago. Telling Cloud as much would only destabilise him further, or worse if the blond failed to recognise the name that apparently meant so much to him. There wouldn’t be any way to find him, to put him before Cloud so that he could rest easy with the delivery of his news. Even well-preserved tracks and paper trails would have long since turned to dust, and Rufus doubted he would find one even if he were in a mood to look. Zack had been a First Class, the same as Sephiroth. Either one of them could have violently resisted any form of hostage situation and returned safely long before now, and both were too striking to simply blend into a crowd and disappear.</p><p>The likelihood was that they had died on their last mission. Unthinkable, but no other possible theory sounded real enough to displace it. </p><p>Until Cloud’s file had fallen into his hands, that is.</p><p>If not for the Mako addling his senses, Rufus knew he would be able to pry all sorts of delightful little tidbits from his Little Bird. He would get the facts on the biggest cover-up in Shinra’s admittedly filthy history, first hand, from an actual witness. So many secrets were wrapped up in the pretty little present that had fallen quiet in his arms, hushed breaths irregular and shivering, but for the moment, there was no way to safely dig them out.</p><p>Impatient as he was to unravel all of Cloud's little mysteries, it would be a challenge that would have to wait until he had dealt with other, far less interesting banalities. </p><p>Rufus gave the boy a few more minutes to pull himself together before he let out a quiet sigh, ignoring Cloud’s soft whine of protest as he shifted on his knees, pulling the blond to his feet as he stood. His Little Bird tried to resist, his bound hands dropping to grab at his clothing, the tangle of his fatigues and his underwear still wrapped around his thighs as Rufus caught his arms and pressed the boy back into the wall behind him, capturing both of the boy's tied delicate wrists easily in a single hand to pin them to his breastbone.</p><p>Cloud flushed, too embarrassed to focus on anything as Rufus tilted his face up towards him, the brightness of his eyes darting around the room as he tried to bring himself under control. He had stopped crying, the tears dashed against his face on one side where he’d rubbed his cheek over Rufus’ own shirt. Rufus knew he would need to change before he went downstairs to deal with the Board. </p><p>No sign of weakness so early in his ascension could be permitted.</p><p>Anything less than perfection would be seen as such. </p><p>“Look at me.” </p><p>Cloud did as commanded on the authority in his voice alone, which was surprising, and Rufus gentled his grip around the sharp cut of his Little Bird’s jawline, musing at the newfound pliancy. It was becoming common for Cloud to switch between the aspects of his personality, selecting which face he deemed suitable for each circumstance in his confusion. Rufus doubted the boy even knew he was doing it, but he didn’t believe it would last. The Mako had knocked Cloud off of his even keel, and it seemed prudent to expect at least a few mercurial mood-swings until his Little Bird managed to find his equilibrium again. </p><p>There was no doubt that he would.</p><p>Cloud had been both strong and capable before Reno had brought him down, able to fight confidently, make decisions and follow them through, even if they were to his own detriment. There was a lot of strength in his character when they had first met that seemed to be mostly absent. Perhaps the shadow of it was there, but the entirety of it had not yet been rediscovered, though it seemed it would only be a matter of time. Even after everything, loss of memory included, Cloud had been snarky to the point Rufus would have sorely liked to tumble him protesting over his knee until he showed some respect. </p><p>Perhaps, if that mouthy little creature returned, there would be time for that later. </p><p>Perhaps he would provoke it on purpose, just for the pleasure of educating his Little Bird on how to keep his petulance in check. </p><p>For the time being, having Cloud quiet and steady under his hand was surprisingly enjoyable, even as he shifted uncomfortably in his partial nakedness. Rufus held him still for a long moment, if only to instill who was in control before he released the boy’s trapped wrists. He did it slowly, a clear sign he expected them to stay where they were, and Cloud seemed to heed that demand, the apple of his throat shifting as he swallowed down his disquiet, easing into the support of the wall at his back like he was awaiting orders.</p><p>Like a good little SOLDIER.</p><p>“Good boy.” Rufus ached to press a kiss to that swollen mouth, lower lip plump and wet where Cloud had been biting it, but instead of testing Cloud’s reaction to his advances, he settled for praise, tugging at the knots around thin wrists until purple silk slid free, the length of it tucked into his trouser pocket. Raw red marks were clearly visible against the pale skin of his Little Bird's wrists in the low light but Cloud didn't seem to notice them at all, blue eyes widening in shame as Rufus bent down, warm hands stroking over pale thighs as he sought to untangle the boy’s clothing, “Stay nice and still for me.” </p><p>Cloud’s soft whimper of dismay at Rufus being so close to the tempting display of his own intimately bared skin was a beautiful thing, and it grew even more strangled as Rufus hesitated, warm thumbs stroking back and forth over his outer thighs, cool eyes examining the exhausted hang of his cock, the tender flesh still slightly rosy from Rufus’ ministrations. Cloud pressed back more into the wall, not even relaxing as Rufus moved to pull his dishevelled fatigues back into place, covering the skin he preferred to leave exposed. </p><p>After the zip and button were correctly in place and Cloud’s modesty preserved, Rufus settled his hands over the hips he had been so keen to hold on to during their tryst. Cloud’s shirt was a disaster, hanging awkwardly where it was bunched around his waist, untucked and messy, still covered in the evidence of his pleasure, but Rufus found he enjoyed looking at it.</p><p>It was evidence that he had, if not thoroughly defiled his Little Bird, then at least put in a good effort at it in the time he had.</p><p>Cloud still seemed oblivious to the marks over his own body, staining his precious uniform. Deliciously, so.</p><p>It was a shame he could not stay to witness his discovery of them.</p><p>“I need to go and deal with business for an hour or so, but I may answer your questions when I return.” Rufus squeezed his hands gently, amused by the confused look on Cloud’s face, that little pucker between his eyebrows more pronounced as he puzzled through what appeared to be a collection of thoughts, trying to organise them, “I will be leaving you here with Reno for a bit. He is entrusted with your safety, so behave for him. Maybe take a bath, if you feel it would help you relax.” </p><p>Cloud nodded his head almost absently, speaking up before Rufus could release him.</p><p>“There’s something I don’t understand, though.” </p><p>Rufus stopped, waiting patiently as Cloud tilted his head, as if trying to physically shuffle the words into the right order before he let them out. That pucker was getting deeper, the neutral line of his mouth turning down in the frown he had seen on the roof. Just a little more and it would be almost perfect, but Cloud looked up instead, the mild suspicion in his eyes not quite dark enough to match up for the way the SOLDIER had stared him down in battle.</p><p>“If you’re the President of Shinra...” </p><p>Even if it wasn’t a match, Cloud was still beginning to squint in that dangerous way that signaled a bout of contrary behaviour, like he’d found his own answer to a question he had yet to ask, and didn’t much like the conclusion he’d reached.</p><p>“Why am I here?”   </p><p>Here? As in the penthouse? As in, here with Rufus? Was that a bout of low self-esteem about to sweep his Little Bird low? Did Cloud genuinely not understand what had happened between them? The thought tickled Rufus like an unanticipated thrill. Oh no, that wouldn’t do at all. </p><p>“I mean...” Cloud continued rattling on, growing more uncertain with the way Rufus was staring back at him, icy blue eyes intent and unblinking, “Everything is a bit strange and unfamiliar at the moment, so I might be very confused, but, something seems a bit off with-”</p><p>“Oh, Cloud. Don’t you know?” Rufus teased, allowing the wicked smile he had been restraining ever since Cloud had torn off his blindfold to cross his lips, backing the boy even harder into the wall, and pressing him there with his own body.</p><p>Cloud tensed up immediately like he’d realised what he’d asked had been the wrong thing to say, his now loose hands sliding down from where Rufus had put them, smearing through some of the mess on his shirt.</p><p>“I… no, I don’t-”</p><p>Rufus leaned in quickly to snatch that plump lower lip that had been tormenting him between his own teeth, laving at it with his tongue until Cloud opened his mouth to gasp. Rufus tipped his head back to open him wide and licked into his mouth to swallow up the sound of shock that poured out. It sounded exactly like the first time he’d kissed his Little Bird on the roof even if Cloud did not remember it, the same awkward stilted half-moan of a thing on the brink of outrage and helpless to do anything about it.</p><p>Cloud tried to push at his chest, but Rufus swept up his wrists and wound them around his neck, quickly returning his hands to the hipbones he wanted to brand his fingerprints into. Cloud tightened his grip in terror as he lost his balance, Rufus yanking his hips forward, and tilting him at so perilous an angle against the wall, that only his head and upper shoulders were touching it, with no room to retreat.</p><p>Rufus was pleased to note that he tasted the same. Still that hint of mako-iron tang seasoned with the salt of his tears, bitter and bloody on his tongue as Rufus mapped out his mouth with conquering precision, stealing his breath until Cloud sagged in his arms like a wilting flower, bare feet scuffing against the carpet below them. </p><p>His Little Bird was so much fun to kiss.</p><p>When he eventually released the blond’s mouth, it was only so he could admire it from a short distance, dropping the most chaste of kisses onto the bruise of it before he released Cloud completely, hands stroking firmly over the hips they held until he could persuade his own body to move back. It was difficult, especially when he noticed that he had worked his Little Bird up a great deal more than intended.</p><p>Cloud ended up back on the floor again, sliding down the wall, face flushed in mortification as Rufus chuckled at the picture he made, turning away to give him some privacy as he crossed the room into what appeared to be a walk-in closet. Cloud could feel that his eyes were wide from how they started to ache, his chest sore like he couldn’t remember how to breathe. There was a horrifying throbbing between his legs that he wanted desperately to ignore, but suddenly all he could think about was how Rufus’ hand had felt on his bare skin, urging his pleasure from him until he could do nothing but surrender to it. </p><p>He remained in an overwhelmed heap on the carpet for a few minutes after Rufus left the room, resplendent in a fresh crisp shirt and tie, hair smoothed back into aristocratic perfection.</p><p>Cloud let out a weak little laugh at the distant thought echoing in the back of his mind while he tried to convince his legs to work, to stiffen up from the jelly that Rufus had turned them into.</p><p>At least he was fully dressed this time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Blessed Samhain and Happy Hallowe'en, everyone! </p><p>Current world issues (among other things) have taken the joy out of my favourite holiday this year, so I figured instead of moping about, let's be consistent with 'Tread Softly' and get the next chapter up. Chapter 13! On All Hallow's Eve? It's like I planned it... but I didn't~</p><p>It seems I've been missing a couple of my repeat commenters for the last chapter or two, and I hope you guys are still reading, and that you're okay. I know there's lots of rubbish stuff happening at the moment, but I hope you're all safe and healthy. Please take care of yourselves, okay? I worry. We're in an environment for that lately, and I worry so much. Please be safe.</p><p>In my good news column for this week, I have one highlight. I managed to secure tickets to see Final Fantasy VII: Remake Orchestra Tour at The Royal Albert Hall next June, provided everything does NOT go to Hell in a hand basket. Is anybody else going? If so, I hope to see you there!</p><p>Be well, my darlings, and don't be playing with The Veil. It's thin tonight~ 🖤</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cloud gave it a few minutes before he tried to wobble to his feet. </p><p>At least, he thought it was a few minutes. Time seemed to skip and jump as it pleased when he wasn’t looking. Rufus had closed the door behind him when he had left, but it was open now, and Cloud couldn’t remember seeing anyone open it. He was sitting in a different position than he had been when he last opened his eyes, his foot tingling from where it was tucked beneath him. He couldn’t remember sitting that way. His heart wasn’t rabbiting in his chest the way he thought it would be if only a few minutes had passed, and the embarrassing situation between his legs had calmed down enough that when he moved, he could do so without pleasure weakening his spine into mouldable putty.</p><p>It probably hadn’t been just a few minutes.</p><p>As he slid his knees beneath himself to try and urge his lethargic body upwards, he caught sight of the bangle on his ankle. He’d felt it earlier, but been too distracted by his panic. Now, all he could regard it with was resigned exhaustion. It was solid metal. Possibly mythril, though he’d never seen a bangle like that in his life so he had no idea why he thought so. It had a strange energy about it, a vibrant hum that echoed through his skin even through the metal. Maybe a magnet? Or some sort of energy source? </p><p>Cloud didn’t even know why it was there, but it was cold, not warming to his body heat, and it was heavier than he expected. Or, maybe he was still tired. His unscheduled rest had been rather rudely interrupted, after all. He resolved to ask Rufus about it when he came back, and reserve judgement about how much hell to kick up after it was explained to him. </p><p>That sounded like the most reasonable course of action. </p><p>The wall seemed to weave under his hands as he used it to put weight on his own shaky legs, body stiff from however long he’d spent on the floor. His lips were still tingling from the force of Rufus’ kiss, and he couldn’t comprehend it. </p><p>Rufus Shinra had touched him. He’d kissed him, and he hadn’t explained anything. They didn’t even know each other. Or, Cloud corrected himself with detached bemusement, he thought they didn’t. Given that he couldn’t remember how he got here, and everything he could remember seemed to be in chopped up little bits that made more of a mess than a picture when he tried to stick them together, Cloud wasn’t quite sure his own assessment of the situation was the most truthful thing to rely on.</p><p>Rufus certainly wouldn't benefit from his presence. What would the President of Shinra stand to gain by associating with a lowly trooper? Even with the recent promotion to SOLDIER, a fact that caused his stomach to flip in something that felt half like giddy joy, and half like absolute stomach-churning terror, there was nothing special about him. Especially now that he was damaged goods after his first mako treatment. </p><p>Was he entertainment? Rufus wanted something pretty to play with in bed? Was that what all the silk binding, and blindfolding, and other crazy stuff was about?</p><p>Cloud pressed his forehead to the cool pale wall, and grit his teeth against the vertigo that battered at him. </p><p>He was nobody’s toy. </p><p>Rufus hadn’t treated him like that, though. He’d spoken like they knew each other, or like Cloud should have known who he was, at least. Not that that was a hardship in itself. Everybody and their dog should know who Rufus Shinra was, but somehow, the name had eluded him when he’d looked at the man. And, he was a man, fully grown and in his prime. Not a twenty-something hothead throwing his name around like it was currency to be bartered for. For a brief moment, Cloud could have sworn Rufus was younger, should have been younger, and he was president now? What had happened to his father?</p><p>The glitter of a long silver blade protruding from a perfectly pressed dress shirt flashed behind his eyelids when he closed them. </p><p>Why was he so dizzy? </p><p>Was it the mako? Rufus had said he was sensitive. Did all SOLDIER’s react like this to their first shots? Was this the downside to being selected for the honour of joining Shinra’s elite fighting force?</p><p>It was worth it.</p><p>Cloud opened his eyes and glanced down at his clothes, his long-awaited uniform. It was less pristine than he would have hoped when he first got to look at it, hardly something to brag about. It was also entirely the wrong colour, but he wasn’t going to complain about that now. </p><p>When else would he get the opportunity to wear the uniform of a First Class? It would be years before he could ever rightfully earn it, and that was even if he was skilled enough to excel to that level. </p><p>His trousers were neat at least, sitting well on him after Rufus’ attempt to preserve what little modesty he had left. His shirt was a lost cause. Suspicious stains covered the front of it, and Cloud felt heat flood his face as he recalled the sensation of thrusting up feverishly into the fist around his cock until he covered himself in his own spend. He’d never had someone do that to him before, that he could remember. Or, maybe Rufus had, and that was why he was so familiar with his body? Cloud didn’t know, couldn’t summon up the recollection of if it had happened before, if it even had.</p><p>The spark of warmth that bloomed in his gut at the memories he did have simmered warningly, and Cloud tried to think of anything else before he let himself sink into the feeling. It was hard to think of anything else. Anything but Rufus’ hands on him, or his mouth, or the heat of his body pressed up against his back. Cloud drew his head back with a tormented whine, and knocked it gently back into the wall.</p><p>“Stop it, stop it, stop it,” His own voice sounded too pleading for his liking.</p><p>Much as he didn’t wish to remove the proof that he had made it into SOLDIER, it would need to happen. He wasn’t going to wander around in a stained shirt, not when it evoked such powerful reactions that he couldn’t control, and not when it could be seen by other people. That was just asking for trouble.</p><p>He rucked up the hem of his turtleneck until his tired arms could get a good grip, and tugged it up over his head, shoving his hair back out of his face as he looked around for a safe place to put it. The bedroom he was in was lavishly decorative around him, pristine apart from the mussed bed-sheets that he avoided looking at for reasons he didn’t want to go into. His shirt was still damp, not safe to put on any surfaces that might be ruined by it. </p><p>Cloud turned to look at the bathroom door beside him. The thin wooden edging was bright white, filled in with large panels of frosted glass that he could just about see through, and Cloud pushed away from the wall, persuading his feet one in front of the other to take him to it. He was still a little groggy, shaken and spaced out enough to see three door handles as he tried to grasp after the real one, but when he figured out the fancy locking mechanism, and that the door had no hinges, it slid aside easily enough.</p><p>The bathroom was huge, with a high ceiling that made Cloud dizzy as he looked up to it, warm tile soothing beneath his bare feet. The furnishings glowed golden under the chandelier that lit up the space, clean marble counters and a spacious tub in his most immediate eye-line. There were more mirrors than he could count, all reflecting an image back at him that he both recognised, and did not. </p><p>Some things remained the same. The unruly nest of his hair was more mussed than he preferred, but still familiar in style and colour. He still had the same face shape and features, much as he wished they had changed. His arms were thicker, still lean but well-muscled, his shoulders a little more wide than he was used to seeing but it felt natural for his body to compensate for them so it couldn’t have been an overnight change. </p><p>The biggest difference of note among all the oddities were the eyes. Even with the distance from the closest mirror, the eyes glowed brightly, charged with bright mako green. </p><p>His eyes, Cloud reminded himself. </p><p>They were his eyes. </p><p>He blinked lazily at his own reflection, seeing his body sway where it stood more than he felt it, frowning down at the facsimile of his own pale fists clutching his shirt to his chest. His hands felt oddly naked bare, but he didn’t know why. He also looked older, which was both fine because for some reason he expected it, and yet at the same time, it was extremely unsettling. Not that much older, just different enough for him to realise that looking in the mirror now, he probably hadn’t done it for a while, so any changes were more noticeable. He was familiar to himself, and yet not. </p><p>Shaking his head to dispel the haze that seemed to descend when he wasn’t paying attention, Cloud set his damp shirt on the counter, catching sight of a pale line of scar tissue in the centre of his chest when he looked down. He didn’t remember being stabbed, but it definitely looked like it had been caused by a thin blade. Expertly handled by the neatness of it. </p><p>It was brighter than the pale skin around it, maybe a few years old from how well it had healed but still quite noticeable, and just a little to the side of where bone would have impeded such a wound. It didn’t hurt in any way, well-tended and clean. A single, swift movement, and it should have bothered him more that he couldn't remember experiencing something that traumatic, but something was compelling him to appreciate it, like it was a marvelous gift to be so singled out. Marked. </p><p>Surrendering to his mild curiosity, Cloud stroked the tips of his fingers gently over the length of the scar, and his knees nearly buckled at the first touch, hands grasping at the marble counter as his vision flared green around the edges.</p><p>The bathroom became very bright around him, so bright it was blinding, and he was forced to close his eyes as a warm, smooth purr of sound rumbled in his ears. It sounded like his name, but when he looked up, there was no one there. No one was speaking to him. The bright white of the bathroom shimmered back at him in its normal, visually acceptable hues of pale white shades through every glossy reflection, the very essence of decadence. Nothing strange, or out of place, even if there was a ringing in his ears that wasn’t there before.</p><p>It felt like a mockery.</p><p>Cloud leaned heavily into the counter and gripped the edge of it to keep himself still, heaving in a rough breath of conditioned air. It was shockingly devoid of scent or flavour. That in itself was an odd thought. The smog of Midgar was heavy with dust and smoke, but he hadn’t been out in it much beyond heading out on Infantry missions and patrols, preferring to stay in Shinra Tower in his free time so he could train. </p><p>Was it weird to miss something you didn’t really know? </p><p>A burst of dark shadow flickered at the corner of his eyes, stark against the palette of the bathroom tiles, but when Cloud turned to look there was nothing there. His own nervous laugh sounded bizarre to his ears, his brain telling him it was unfamiliar even as his body relaxed into the apparent normalcy of it. The thought of doing what Rufus had suggested, pouring himself a bath and sinking into it until he could take the time to make his puzzle pieces fit was appealing, but he knew he would stew in his own inability to figure things out with only himself for company. </p><p>Rufus had said that Reno would be looking after him. The redhead, Cloud recalled. The Turk.</p><p>Cloud had immediately disliked him as soon as he’d seen him. Cocky, brash, half-clothed like he couldn’t be bothered. He looked like he lacked discipline in every way, and something in him seemed to want to flex like an underworked muscle and knock the man on his ass. He didn’t understand those urges. He didn’t even know the man, but then, that was becoming a running theme.</p><p>Cloud hung his head and sighed.</p><p>Why was everything so weird? </p><p>The marble of the counter creaked warningly under his grip and Cloud stared down at it blankly for a few seconds, like he didn’t understand. When his apparent increase of strength registered, he let go of it swiftly, cursing his own broken mind and stepping back from the counter even as the keenness of his eyesight still picked up the hairline crack through the otherwise perfect slab. </p><p>Rufus would not be pleased with that when he came back. </p><p>Gazing down at his own hand like he hadn't seen it before, Cloud wondered at the feeling of betrayal he felt against his own limb. Not because it had cracked the counter, although, that certainly was a problem. No, the baffling feeling of betrayal was more towards the fact that he <i>knew</i> that he should be stronger. Even if he couldn't remember how or why. He knew. Instead of hovering in the rapidly descending fog of uncertainty, Cloud turned to leave the bathroom before he could do any more damage, stumbling a little into the doorframe as the back of his neck throbbed at him painfully. </p><p>It felt like he had turned his head too quick and bruised skin had pulled taut. </p><p>No, wait. Not like that. More like it had been touched, like the ghost of leather had scalded across his exposed neck with all the heat of a firebrand. </p><p>Cloud shook his head and clumsily fumbled his way across the bedroom to the walk in closet.</p><p>“You’re losing it, Strife,” He muttered under his breath.</p><p>Rufus’ closet was almost as big as his bathroom, stuffed with an immaculate array of monochromatic suits and casual outfits that still looked like each individual item cost a couple of months worth of living expenses. Not all of them appeared to be his, some in larger sizes that would not suit him at all. Dark pinstripes would never be as flattering on Rufus as his preference for white. Still, while everything looked expensive, Cloud was not the least bit concerned about using the President's wardrobe to find himself another shirt. Rufus had ruined his last one, so he could take responsibility for it. </p><p>It wasn't like he didn't have enough, anyway.</p><p>The floor of the closet was cold hard wood, made warm by the large fluffy white circular rug in the heart of the room, a bright red backless chaise lounge wide enough for two positioned at an artful angle in the centre of it surrounded by tall thin mirrors. Each hanger in the closet was perfectly spaced, each polished shoe perfectly aligned in its rack. Belts, and socks, and jackets were on display for perusal like they would be in the kind of fancy upper plate tailor shop that required muscle at the door, and robes, some too thin and short and silky to be for Rufus’ own use were hanging in their pristine little sections.</p><p>It was as rich, as it was obscene. </p><p>Cloud found himself filled with the inexplicable urge to push things around. He wanted to drag everything out of its perfect spot, rip it all apart and mess things up, but the impulse was there and gone before he could even move, too stunned by the compulsion to act on it. Before he could second guess himself or break anything else, he moved over the section that looked to be around Rufus' size, grabbed the nearest shirt off of the closest hanger and turned around to leave, dragging the sleeves up his arms as he went.</p><p>There were too many things to worry about right now without adding destructive tendencies to the mix. He genuinely wasn’t destructive by nature, though that seemed oddly funny to him for reasons beyond his comprehension. Maybe an in-joke he couldn’t recall?</p><p>Cloud shrugged, burying his nose into the loose collar of the white shirt to take in a scent that was decidedly more overpowering fabric softener than he hoped. He’d figure it out later.</p><p>The bedroom door was still open when he approached it, and the world seemed less tilt-y as he peeked around the edge of the bedroom doorway. The penthouse was quiet, no sounds of movement that he could hear, even if his strangely familiar enhanced hearing could detect a steady heartbeat nearby.</p><p>The couch was occupied by the Turk Cloud expected to see, long legs kicked up and crossed on the leather cushions, a long red tail of hair draped over the redhead’s shoulder to spill over the throw pillow he’d propped himself on. He seemed to be the only other person present, the open kitchen and its gleaming counters unoccupied, several other closed doors around the room looking like closet space or bathrooms. He’d have to check them out later to make sure.</p><p>For the moment, his focus was on the man Rufus left him with.</p><p>Reno wasn’t fully relaxed, just enough that the position he was sprawled into made him look like he’d never been so comfortable in his life, fingers tapping away at his PHS like he was playing a game or urgently responding to a message. He was too alert though, eyes flicking up every once in a while to survey his surroundings, and the metal rod that looked to be his weapon lay on the coffee table in front of him like he expected to need to use it quickly. </p><p>It took very little time for him to notice Cloud creeping into the spacious open plan of the lounge, but when he did, his muted frown immediately melted into an untrustworthy smile, teeth and all.</p><p>Cloud wanted to reach for a weapon handle at his back, but he knew he wasn't carrying one.</p><p>“Well, well, ‘bout time you snapped out of it, Blondie!” The redhead heckled, the green of his eyes glimmering slyly under the vibrant wisps of his hair that fell into them, the lenses of his goggles catching the light and flashing like warning beacons as he tilted his head towards him, “Thought I was gonna have to smack you around a bit. You seem to be into that now.”</p><p>Cloud really did not like him.</p><p>“As if you could even land a hit, Turk.” He threw back at him, ignoring the couch completely to wander over to the wall of windows, fingers buttoning up the shirt he’d borrowed. It was loose in the neck so he didn’t bother with the collar. It did fit only a little bit more reasonably around the shoulders and the chest, but the waist was a lost cause, the fabric so wide and long around him that he felt like he was playing dress-up.</p><p>The low whistle at his back him made him stiffen, eyes fixed on the reflection behind him in the tinted glass. Reno was sitting up to splay his feet in the carpet, knees akimbo so he could brace his elbows wide on them. He didn’t even have the good grace to remove his boots before he put his feet on the expensive leather of the couch. Cloud knew his own mother would have an absolute fit if he’d ever been so rude in another person’s home.</p><p>“Bossman already got you in his clothes, huh?” Reno was smirking like he was having the best time, and Cloud was glad the shirt was long enough to hide most of his body because the once over look he got after that rankled him, “Not that I can blame him. I mean, he’s kinky like that. Likes to put his stamp on things.” </p><p>Another voice echoed like a crude and distorted recording in his mind, familiar even through the din of the strange ringing noise that accompanied it.</p><p>
  <i>'Let’s see if Little Stamp really can bite the hand that feeds.'</i>
</p><p>Cloud shook his head to rid himself of the fuzziness, narrowing his eyes as he turned his head to glare at the redhead, putting every ounce of violence he was too tired to act on into that single cutting look.</p><p>“What’s wrong, Blondie?” Reno’s grin got wider, “Got something on my face?”</p><p>Cloud clenched his fist until the bones in his hand crackled, the sound awfully loud in the quiet.</p><p>“Not yet.”</p><p>Reno laughed, throwing his head back in a way that looked carefree, but his eyes never completely closed, and he never looked away from his target. Oh, the Turk knew how to play the game. How to feign nonchalance without letting his guard down. Cloud could almost respect that a little, but not when he was being baited for fun.</p><p>“I’ll throw down with you anytime, anywhere, SOLDIER-boy!” The Turk crowed back with enthusiasm, fingers stretching and curling where his hands dangled between his spread thighs, like he was raking claws over skin and relishing it, “We’re not even yet, and I never get tired of making you dance.”</p><p>Cloud shoved a hand out to balance himself as his vision sparked out in spreads of flashing golden lights, royal blue satin and heady perfume. Faded music was echoing like it was the next room over instead of slipping through his head and out again before he could think to grasp it. There was a crowd of cheering spectators, an ornate wooden throne on a stage, and the golden lights illuminated the cheerful face of a pretty girl in a red dress…</p><p>“-oud! Hey, Blondie, snap out of it!”</p><p>Cloud blinked his eyes open to find himself slumped on the floor with his face pressed against the glass of the penthouse windows, his knees aching like he’d landed on them hard, the dark wood at the windows edges more than a little solid compared to the softness of the carpet. Reno was on his feet beside him, looking more annoyed than overly concerned. Thankfully the redhead had not attempted to touch him. Cloud knew he would have swung fists if he had tried.</p><p>“What the fuck was that, kiddo? You have a seizure or somethin’?”</p><p>“It’s kind of weird when you call me that.” Cloud didn’t know why he heard himself echo those very words inside his head, sharper than his current confused slur, or even why they seemed to be accompanied by the disgruntled yowling of unhappy cats when there were none in the penthouse that he could see, “What happened?”</p><p>“How should I know? One minute you’re being sassy and obnoxious, and the next?” Reno threw his hands up in the air, his expression incredulous like he couldn’t make sense of it, “You were on your knees, kissing window, and mumbling about Honeybees!”</p><p>“I don’t...” Cloud looked down, trying to remember what he’d just seen but it was ephemeral and illusive, his head starting to pulse painfully with the effort of trying. He turned his eyes down away from the brightness of the lights in the penthouse, focussing on where his knees touched the tinted glass, and further down, towards the steep drop into the city. </p><p>Sector Zero glittered like a calm ocean under a summer sun, clean and beautiful, all the brighter for the darkness around it, the true upper crust of Midgar. Beyond that, the sectors were carved out like perfect little pizza slices. The comparison felt peculiar, but oddly right, even if he couldn’t recall where he had heard it.</p><p>The Sectors had their own special glow, too. The heartwarming homely kind of welcome that spoke of people doing their best, and providing for their families. The upper plate did much better than the slums, but even if those above gave no care to those below, Cloud had seen the beauty down there. He knew it with a certainty he couldn’t confirm, but believed in none-the less. There were good people in the slums. He’d met them. </p><p>“Blondie, you’re spacing out on me again...”</p><p>Cloud clasped at his aching knees with both hands, staring down into the lights sprawled across the city below. He couldn’t recall their faces or their names, but he knew there were people that could be relied upon. That when the chips were down, there were brave people willing to stand up and fight for what was needed. It hurt to not remember them. It hurt to try to bring the memories to the fore.</p><p>Cloud breathed deep, and started slow.</p><p>He could remember a little girl in a pink dress with a yellow bow. She’d been so scared when they’d first met. He hadn’t meant to scare her, and he’d been yelled at, but he didn’t remember who by. There was an older woman with a great gathered bush of grey steel hair, and a tone like a hammer. No skills, she’d said. So critical, but only out of mistrust. The Bar. There’d been a bar. A ramshackle thing built with love.</p><p>Seventh Heaven?  </p><p>Cloud turned his head, leaning into the glass to find the sector he was looking for.</p><p>The reactor at the far edge of the city was blazing bright, sending its green flare high to rival those around it. The large number painted onto the metal plates of the reactor was lit up in the continuous burst of mako fire, but when he looked for the rest of what he knew should be there, there was only darkness. </p><p>No lights. No plate. Just a great black hole in the centre of the city that made something mournful twinge inside of him.</p><p>Cloud tore his eyes from the horrifying lack of life and colour, his hands cold as they lifted to press against the glass, and Reno backed up a step as the blond looked up at him, face blanched and eyes oddly dull, voice thick with pain. </p><p>“What happened to Sector 7?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this chapter was supposed to be the Rufus chapter, but now I'm saving that for next week, because after the reactions I received in the comments for the ending of chapter 13, I think a few of you might have tried to murder me if I made you wait. </p><p>I have also had some readers of 'Tread Softly' chastise me for not making them aware that I am also writing a AGSZC Pirate!AU called 'Captain's Orders'. This was negligence on my part because apparently I am still surprised that you guys are enjoying my writing. My most sincere apologies for being a dumbass! If you wish to read it, please do so. If you still wish to yell at me after you have read it, I will gladly invite your wrath!</p><p>Oh, and as 'Tread Softly' is going to have more than one part, I'm in the market for a name for the series. Does anyone have any poetic or lyrical suggestions? My inner Genesis is craving something dramatic...</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Reno was oddly silent. </p><p>Cloud had the vague recollection that he should be impressed by that, but he was lost in the fog over his own mind, and far too stunned by the shadow that passed over the redhead’s face to draw attention to it. </p><p>That shadow looked like grief, looked like the visual representation of the pit he could feel hollowing out inside of him, as deep and dark and barren as the gaping hole in the plate where he expected to see a sea of stars, heavenly light beaming up from Sector 7 like they’d stolen it from the sky above the smog.</p><p>There was nothing. Nothing at all. </p><p>“Answer me.” Cloud’s mouth was moving, but he didn’t remember trying to say the words, the sound as soft and surprising to his own ears as it was to the other occupant in the penthouse.</p><p>Reno remained silent, mouth pursed in a tight line like he wanted to speak but didn’t trust himself to. Grief had blossomed into deep regret across the angles of his face, something so visceral and raw that Cloud was able to see it as though it were its own living entity, shaking his hands out before he stuffed them into his pockets to hide his restless fidgeting. </p><p>Coward.</p><p>The thought sliced through his mind like a knife, and Cloud hardly dared to breathe in the wake of it. Something hot was racing through his veins, a toxic vapour in the current of his blood that felt a lot like righteous fury. Why was it righteous? What had Reno done to deserve the sudden build of ferocity that Cloud could feel brewing in his heart as he stared up at the sullen, silent figure standing over him? </p><p>The guilt that he could see written plainly in every line of the man’s awkwardly slouched body was telling, painstakingly obvious given the way the normally bold redhead couldn’t even meet his eyes. </p><p>Not telling him what happened wasn’t enough to call out cowardice. There was something else, something more, and Cloud wracked his brain to find it. The urgency he felt swept up like dust particles in a gale, little fragments of important information that he needed to piece together. The scrutiny he turned on the redhead was cutting, bitter to the bone, and the implications that came with it made absolutely no sense. </p><p>But, they didn’t feel wrong.</p><p>His instincts screamed at him to be both utterly reckless, and excruciatingly careful in a way that implied he knew Reno more than he could remember. That the man was brash and callous beyond what he had already seen, the embodiment of a literal warning flag until the moment the real feelings rose to the surface and the sirens started. It was the Turk’s occupation to be an impenetrable wall of misleading information, and ultimately violence when people got too close to something uncomfortably truthful. </p><p>Cloud continued to stare up at him, but Reno avoided his gaze like it was a trap.</p><p>What truth would he find staring back at him if Reno met his eyes?</p><p>“Look at me.” Cloud demanded, but he felt detached from the bubble of anger churning in his gut. Why was he mad? Why were his hands shaking against the glass? His face felt oddly wet, but Cloud didn’t reach to touch it, and Reno seemed to muster himself into something strong before he finally dared to glare back, metaphorical hackles up like he was ready to fight.  </p><p>“You talk too much, Blondie.” He snapped, caustic and irritated, “If you can’t remember what happened, then leave it alone.”</p><p>Cloud turned his gaze back to the window, to the darkness where there should be none, if only so he could silently encourage the absence of light to reveal the secret Reno didn’t want to share. It hurt to look at it, even if he couldn’t remember why beyond the ache of how many people must have suffered. It felt like a personal loss, one he was being deliberately kept away from, and his tone was acerbic as he stared down into the gaping wound in the city.</p><p>“Feeling guilty?” </p><p>The length of the metal baton he’d seen resting on the table came to rest against the back of his neck but Cloud chose not to acknowledge it. Reno was quick, he noted. He hadn’t had the weapon to hand that Cloud could see when he had looked at the redhead before. He was also quiet. He hadn’t even heard him move to collect it.</p><p>“Guilt is for good people, SOLDIER-boy.” Reno sounded cold, and Cloud could feel it more than see as he turned the baton against the bare skin under the borrowed shirt collar, the blond holding still even as his neck throbbed at the touch, “You must be confused if you think I’m anything like you and your little slum rat friends...”</p><p>His friends?</p><p>Cloud felt a wave of vertigo seep over him again, cool and crisp and scented like flowers. Bright technicolour flashes strobed behind the thin flesh of his eyelids in strange little snippets that he tried and failed to grasp in their entirety. A long swinging braid of chocolate hair bound in pink ribbon. A strange tattoo in orange fur. Tifa’s red eyes, rich as berry wine looking up at him, her brow creased in concern. </p><p>When had he seen Tifa?</p><p>Cloud leaned forward to rest his head against the glass of the window when it started to throb, too. Everything was suddenly bright and hard to see, sparking green like mako electricity. Even his eyes looked oddly green in his reflection when he caught sight of them, the glare of them unnatural, and for a brief moment, his face changed. Became someone else, mouth curved in a frightening smile, long hair pooling around a pale face that was gone again before he could look directly at it.</p><p>Reno was rubbing his thumb over the button on his weapon, the hum of electricity inside more than obvious to Cloud’s enhanced senses, but he did not apply the expected pressure. The mere warning shift of skin over metal sounded in his ears like the slow rotation of chopper blades.</p><p>When Cloud blinked, the flash behind his eyes was of a sector pillar, tall and lit up in gunfire. Helicopters were closing in around it, some for patrol, some engaging, and the bloodbath and explosions seemed unhinged, like reality had been chopped and changed around him. There were a lot of stairs, a lot of machines, and a sense of urgency that he could feel but he didn’t know why. </p><p>As he opened his eyes again, the reflection of his own face in front of him disappeared. Instead, the stretch of metal grid between himself and Reno was getting smaller as he barrelled across the pillar deck with a wild cry. The Turk’s red hair was as bright as fresh blood and backlit against a large screen, his unmistakable silhouette edged in the red glow of damning words, an automated voice loud over the sirens in the air.   </p><p>
  <i>Plate separation authorised.</i>
</p><p>That wasn’t right, though. Reno was almost behind him. He couldn’t even see him, but the vision was so clear, like he had witnessed it happen. Like he had been there. </p><p>The blond struggled to breathe, hauling in air that should have tasted like death and despair, but instead tasted of nothing, filtered free of Midgar’s overwhelming stench as it was.</p><p>Had the Turks toppled the pillar? Crashed the plate? All those people…</p><p>Cloud reared back from the window, Reno giving an almost comical shout as he pressed the button on his mag-rod too late. Cloud ducked clumsily under the swing of it as the weapon sliced through the air with very little resistance, staggering over to an ornate armchair, more decorative than comfortable, and using it to keep himself on his feet. </p><p>Reno came after him, but it was almost like the Turk was pulling his punches, and the blond slipped through his guard and rolled across the floor. He came to a dizzy stop crouching on his bare toes, fingertips balancing on the ground and even though his vision tilted with the sudden movement, he fixed Reno in his sights like he had been trained to do it. </p><p>“Was it you?” The words were more air breathed through his teeth, and Cloud squinted against the sight of Tifa’s clenched fists shaking at her sides, feathered gloves glowing with materia that would never be enough to heal the damage done. Of Barret’s agonised screams into the collapsed sector, shouting names he knew as he threw the tender skin of his meaty fists against the crumbled concrete, spitting blasphemies up into the air for their fallen comrades. </p><p>Biggs. Wedge. Jessie. </p><p>Barret.</p><p>Most of those names should <i>mean</i> something. Anything.</p><p>Cloud listed heavily to one side, barely managing to keep his balance. His neck was pulsing like a separate heartbeat, pain and adrenaline making him lethargic. The room seemed to warp around him until it changed entirely, the air dense with smoke and he was sitting on a metal floor, a young woman in his arms, her ponytail askew and her eyes closed as Tifa wept beside him. There was a heavy hand in his hair, kind eyes smiling at him through pain beneath the slash of a red bandana.</p><p>
  <i>Not a fan of kids? But, you have so much in common.</i>
</p><p>“Did you do it?” Cloud managed to shake away the fugue, but he could feel his voice getting louder, aching in his throat more than he could hear it, “Did you press that button?”</p><p>“No.” Reno seemed to load every ounce of vehemence he could muster into the word, barely letting Cloud finish his question before he was refuting it, his fingerless gloves creaking around the handle of his baton like he could strangle it with his bare hands, “But, I should have. It was <i>my</i> job to do. <i>My</i> order to follow.”</p><p>Cloud let out a cry of rage and charged at the Turk. Even as he made to attack, he knew he was going to lose. Reno disappeared from in front of him in a blaze of blue light, and Cloud had nothing he could use to defend himself even as he turned to grab the weapon that came down on him. The crackle of raw lightning fizzed in the air a half second before Cloud registered the pain shooting through his palm and up into his shoulder. </p><p>For a moment, a large church sprung up around him, sunlight filtering through the beautiful stained glass windows to paint the worn wooden floors in a rainbow of colour, a familiar voice bouncing around in his head.</p><p>
  <i>Hey! Watch the flowers!</i>
</p><p>The blond grit his teeth against the rioting sting of electricity, falling back on his ass on the carpet as his body trembled with the foreign current in it. He tried to shuffle back as Reno followed after him, just in case he tried to shock him again, but the coffee table hit his spine and he was forced to stop.</p><p>“It’s your job to crush an entire sector of helpless men, women and children?” Cloud panted through the lingering pain, sparks lighting up between his fingers like a strange sort of webbing as he tried to shake them away, “What kind of monster orders that?” </p><p>“A monster that’s already dead.” Reno’s face lit up in a grim smile that didn’t suit him, “I hear you might have had something to do with that.”</p><p>“What?” Cloud’s eyes widened until they felt dry in his face, “Why would you think that?”</p><p>Reno laughed bitterly, slinging his rod back over his shoulder and slouching onto his hip as he raised a hand to tap at his own temple, “Need to know, sweetheart. But, Rufus is in charge now, and you should be grateful for that, considering what he’s doing for you. So, how about you calm your fine ass down, before I have to put you out again.”</p><p>Again? </p><p>Cloud didn’t like the sound of that.</p><p>Taking the opportunity while it was there, he swept his foot out at the redhead’s ankles, and Reno tripped towards him with a startled yelp, too confident in his victory to even his stance in time. The blond lifted his leg, ignoring the hazy glow of the bangle around his ankle as he planted his foot in the middle of the redhead’s bare chest and twisted his body, launching the redhead face-first into the air and over the back of the couch.</p><p>Reno landed with a satisfying thud, but Cloud didn’t hang around to see what his pretty mug looked like when he managed to get back on his feet, rolling onto his knees and staggering up to race for the bedroom.</p><p>He could hear the Turk scrambling over the leather of the couch behind him, cursing as he rounded the coffee table to follow, but Cloud had put too many obstacles in his path to make it easy. The bathroom door was still wide open as he had left it, and Cloud slipped inside just as Reno skidded into the bedroom, unable to catch up quickly enough to stop the bathroom door from sliding shut right in front of his nose. </p><p>Cloud let out a quiet huff as the lock turned smoothly under his hand, and Reno made no attempt to break it.</p><p>Obviously, Rufus Shinra’s property was worth more than the Turk monthly salary could cover, the blond thought with vicious aplomb, backing slowly away from the door. </p><p>Reno was an obvious specter on the other side of the glass, the dark of his suit and the brightness of his hair dominant smudges of colour through the frosted glass. Something metallic tapped against the door in a mocking rendition of a knock.</p><p>“Only way out from there is through this door, kid. Don’t try anything stupid.” </p><p>Cloud looked around, even though he knew Reno was right. The only windows in the room were the same as the lounge, large panes of glass that provided a view, with what looked to be small ventilation windows at the top to let the steam out. A cat could have squeezed out safely if the penthouse weren’t so high, but there was no way he would find safe passage out that way if it were even his intention. </p><p>“You hearin’ me, SOLDIER-boy?” Reno was getting louder, “Don’t make me come in there.”</p><p>“I have decided,” Cloud confirmed in a clear and mostly steady voice, “That I don’t like you.”</p><p>“The feeling’s mutual, Blondie.”</p><p>“Then, fuck off!” Cloud turned his back on the door, “For both our sakes.”</p><p>If there was an answer, he didn’t listen for it. Instead, Cloud turned to the bath, the vast tub and it’s ornate golden fixtures calling him to follow the advice Rufus had given him before he’d left. Better that, than to allow Reno to take advantage of the fact that at present, he was seeing things and hearing voices. Definitely a few snowflakes short of an avalanche. </p><p>The phrase seemed to mean something different to him now, as Cloud surrendered to the urge to laugh, if only under his breath.</p><p>It had never been funny when the other kids had called him crazy back home. </p><p>“Yo, you gonna stay in there all night?” Reno rapped at the door with his mag-rod, “Asking for a friend.”</p><p>Cloud turned the golden taps on full blast to drown him out, the sudden splash of water on porcelain enough to make the silhouette of Reno throw his hands up to the heavens behind the frosted glass and stalk out of sight. Cloud watched his shadow disappear, imagining the kind of curse words the redhead was using to slander his name. He bet he wasn’t nearly creative enough to be accurate.</p><p>With the bath plugged up and beginning to fill, Cloud looked for anything he could use for it. The bathroom was large, but all of the useful little things that made it a bathroom were tucked away, like clutter was something rich people did not entertain. There wasn’t a single flannel, towel, or bottle in sight, but there were plenty of little nooks that looked like they might be hiding them.</p><p>Under the sink seemed to be a collection of folded robes, which Cloud ignored for the moment, and while he was deliberately avoiding the wan sight of his pale tear-streaked face in the mirror, the decorative little cabinet behind it revealed the hiding place of several wrapped toothbrushes and toothpaste. There were a few other bits and pieces but nothing Cloud could see that was of interest.</p><p>After some minor scavenging, bare feet taking him in a full circle over the warmed tiles of the room, he managed to locate a collection of fluffy white towels and a pristine array of boutique bottles in a standing cabinet. They looked like they had been arranged for a spa, minimalist labels with looping script depicting all sorts of fancy obnoxious titles. Cloud ignored them all, rifling through them until he could find one that didn’t make him want to either throw up, or physically remove his nose from his face.</p><p>There was one that was mildly scented enough for him to stomach, the label square and edged with gold. </p><p>Sea salt and pine. </p><p>It brought to mind memories of Nibelheim in the spring, when the winter ice began to calm, the frozen tundra of the western continent easing into recognising the light of the sun. Everything softened in the spring. Only a little, but for the few children who lived in the little reactor town in the mountains, enduring the swaddling and coddling of concerned parents during the dangerous winter months, fresh air and natural light were a blessing.</p><p>Cloud found himself wondering how his mother was doing as he tipped the bath salts into the swirling water. He could not recall having sent her a letter for a while. Even if he had, the urge to send another settled over him like the warm blankets she would smother him in as they huddled together for warmth in those dark months. </p><p>He missed her.</p><p>He never got to say it to her enough, but he wanted to. She would be so delighted when she heard he had achieved his dream. Now that he was an inducted SOLDIER, he would be able to send her more money so she could make her life in Nibelheim more comfortable, and his heart leapt at the thought that maybe she would be able to come and visit him now. See Midgar, in all its splendour.</p><p>The thought did not make him as happy as he thought it would, but he didn’t know why. </p><p>When he deemed the tub full enough, Cloud set the soap and shampoo on the floor within reach as he turned the taps off and glanced back at the door. No shadows filled the large square of frosted glass. He could only surmise that Reno had gotten bored and left him to his own devices. </p><p>Good riddance to him.</p><p>Cloud pulled off his clothes, and left his fatigues in a messy heap on the floor. The borrowed shirt, he folded as well as he knew how and left on the counter, a good deal of distance away from his own sullied shirt. It wouldn’t do to give it back to Rufus stained or damaged in any way. </p><p>That would be the height of rudeness. Especially after he had been so very kind.</p><p>The water was bordering on too hot as he stepped into the bath, but as Cloud sank into it, letting it buoy him into relaxing his overworked muscles, he didn’t care that his skin pinked in the heat like it had been lightly scalded. The cool smooth rim of the tub supported his neck, the back of it still slightly sore. He would check it out afterwards, but for now, Cloud was as content as he was willing to admit to, wiggling his toes under the water, hands slipping from the edges until they were submerged and he was warm up to the edge of his jaw, a soft blissful smile sneaking over his face.</p><p>He would be able to ask Rufus all of his questions when he got back. Rufus would make Reno go away, and they could have a blunt and civil conversation about all the strange thoughts he was having. All the strange memories. The ankle with the bangle over it was hooked over the side of the tub. He didn’t want to risk getting it wet before he knew what it was and why he was wearing it. Reno couldn’t be trusted to give him an honest answer, but somehow he thought Rufus would tell him what was going on. It didn’t even need to be the whole truth if it would be too confusing before the mako unscrambled his mind. </p><p>Just enough to help him shake the niggling doubts that everything was ever so slightly wrong with the entire situation. Just enough to help him shake the feeling that there was somewhere else he should be. Someone else he should be with. </p><p>Cloud felt his shoulders unknot in the heat, the tension in his body unspooling like a ball of twine. </p><p>Had he ever felt this relaxed? </p><p>He didn’t know. He couldn’t remember.  </p><p>It didn’t feel right, but it had crept up on him so smoothly that it was difficult to mind it.</p><p>Even when a gentle hand wove gloved fingers into his hair despite the fact that he knew he was alone, he left his eyes closed, leaning into it like it was an anchor he didn’t know he needed. Everything was fuzzy and his eyelashes felt too heavy to lift. The air was alive with a faint humming sound, something that started so softly that he wouldn’t have been able to detect it until it had already threaded itself through him, and there was a bright green tinge behind his eyelids, but it didn’t matter. Soothing words broke the silence, but he couldn’t understand what they said. </p><p>The scent of sea salt, and pine trees, and leather permeated the room, a blend of sensual aromas that were comforting and familiar. It was home. It was family. It was the beauty of sweet, sweet reunion, and Cloud was prepared to embrace it fully.</p><p>He turned into the touch of that hand like a demanding kitten into an indulgent petting, and over his head, a quiet laugh reverberated in the echoing acoustics of the bathroom. Such a pleasant voice. Deep. Dark. Fascinating. Cloud tried to open his heavy eyes to recognise the owner of it and met the weighted gaze of poisonous green.</p><p>A distant part of him suddenly felt exposed and helpless, but he paid it no mind, gazing up blearily into the handsome face that floated over him. Strong wide shoulders clothed in black leather leaned over the lip of the bath like a wraith in the brilliance of the light. Metal pauldrons gleamed like freshly mined precious minerals under the chandelier, but not as brightly as the loose strands of silver hair that draped over the edges of the bathtub to swim in the water with him.</p><p>He wanted to touch them but he couldn’t move, his arms like lead weights in the water. His fingers felt solid, so much so that he could barely curl them. They wanted to make fists, but he didn’t know why.</p><p>Leather clad fingers skated down from his hair, over his cheekbone, and Cloud tipped his head back to let them do what they wanted, eyes staring up trustingly into the man over him. </p><p>This was his idol, his Hero. The strongest man on Gaia. The Planet’s Greatest Warrior.</p><p>Did he know him, too? </p><p>“Sweet puppet...” The cadence of his voice was something inexplicably soothing, even while Cloud felt a thread of unexplainable terror coil in his chest, right beneath where that leather hand settled, fingers spreading wide over his sternum, “We cannot stay here.”</p><p>Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. </p><p>It was just as well. He would only embarrass himself. The words that wanted to come out were rampant denial, feverish declarations of hatred and vengeance that he surely could not mean. He had no reason to hate this man. No reason at all. </p><p>Sephiroth smiled over him like he could hear the viciousness of his misguided words anyway, mouth curling at the edges like a large cat content with its meal. </p><p>Cloud felt the urge to apologise for his treacherous thoughts, but the hand at his chest pushed, and he began to slip into the water, Sephiroth’s voice musical in its feral delight.</p><p>“There is still so much to be done.” </p><p>He knew he should feel panic. Should feel fear. Should feel anything other than the numb gratefulness that swept up over him with the salty bathwater, but he couldn’t bring himself to find those feelings and use them. Instead, Cloud felt the hot water coast over his head, his body settling heavily against the bottom of the tub where Sephiroth held him, and his stinging eyes stared up through the clear water to the shadow overhead.</p><p>His Hero was perfectly carved in darkness, with only his eyes to be seen, slit and shining out of the shadow of his face. The chandelier above him surrounded him with bright lights that blazed through the crystals like an inferno. He was surrounded with it, saturated in it. They both were. So much light, the heat of it scalding, and Cloud closed his lips tightly and tried not to breathe or the smoke would get in.</p><p>Nibelheim was burning. </p><p>His mother was dead, her blue eyes vacant and her flaxen hair soaked with blood. Her screams still rang in his ears. She had cried to him, pleaded for him, begged and sold her precious dignity over his waste of a life, and Sephiroth was standing over him like a reaper in the blaze, eyes demonic in the fire. The cruelty of that beautiful smile burned into Cloud like mako in his veins, like the swansong of his hometown around him.</p><p>The shadow laughed, and Cloud started to shake. His chest was hurting. Everything was burning. He needed to breathe, but he knew he shouldn’t. The smoke would get in. The heat would burn him from the inside out.</p><p>He tried to move, but his body wouldn’t obey.</p><p>He was trapped.</p><p>Cloud opened his mouth to scream, a torrent of bubbles erupting above him, and hot water rushed in to smother it into silence.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Whoops. Did I go there? Yup. I totally went there. I CAN'T EXPLAIN MYSELF. SORRY! 🖤</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow, this one took me a little bit longer than anticipated to finish, but even though I feel like my head's going to roll off my shoulders, it's still technically Saturday here in the UK so, I'm kinda on schedule? You may pelt me with Milky Bar buttons if you disagree. I'll wait...</p><p>Just so you know, I am halfway through writing chapter two of my Pirate!AU. If you haven't read it and you're into AGSZC, alternatively known as Angeal/Genesis/Sephiroth/Zack/Cloud (still not sure I’m getting that in the right order, you know) then please give it a whirl and let me know what you think? Your comments are, as always, a priceless joy to read and respond to.</p><p>I am so tired, so I'm gonna go pass out now. My love to you all! 🖤</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Presidential Suite was silent as Rufus alighted the elevator, various sets of eyes turning to look as he moved through the room, clothed immaculately in his suit of white. The dress shoes he’d chosen filled the room with the authoritative step of someone who demanded the eyes and ears of all present, and he held his head high, not deigning to look at any of the vipers that would sooner poison him than fall in line.</p><p>Hojo was notably absent, no doubt focussing on work he deemed of greater importance than being summoned by the new President of Shinra. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to imagine that the man was probably not even aware such a transfer of power had even taken place. He was rarely interested in anything outside of what he could put in a test tube, but Rufus was not perturbed by his lack of response to the summons. Anything he had to discuss with Hojo was potentially a conversation better held in private. </p><p>Scarlett and Palmer were standing before the desk, each displaying their own irritated signs of impatience. They were not looking at each other, or even talking to one another. That was not a surprise, given Scarlett was a headstrong snake of a woman in her sadistic prime, and Palmer’s disposition was much too weak to contend with her even on her worst day. </p><p>Heidegger was at the back of the room, gazing out of the bank of mostly undamaged windows into the unexpected swell of dark cloud that Rufus noticed had descended around the building while he had been upstairs occupying his Little Bird. It made it difficult for the Director of Public Security to see much farther than the glass he was staring out of, but still, he didn’t turn at Rufus’ arrival. He didn’t acknowledge him at all beyond the straightening of his shoulders in his military dress, his peaked collar hiding his face much better than his own reflection did. His scowl was perfectly visible, despite his efforts.</p><p>Reeve Tuesti was not far from Tseng, inclining his head respectfully as he moved to take his place before the desk with the others when Rufus passed him. </p><p>Tuesti would likely be the most useful of the lot of them, seeming to possess an exploitable sense of civic duty that the others rather lacked. Not that it posed too much of an issue when the others also had their buttons if one knew where to push. Scarlett’s greed could be manipulated, and Heidegger’s placement made it easier to keep a close eye on him. Palmer would fold like a wet napkin under the mildest threat. </p><p>For now, the sorry lot of them were lucky there were benefits to keeping such power hungry charlatans in their coveted positions. </p><p>Rufus had done his homework most diligently on each of them, preparing for the day when he would need to relieve his father of command. He knew he would have to play things carefully, intuit his countermoves before he could trust any of the Board, but out of all of his father’s poor choices, Tuesti came the closest to deserving anything even close to high regard. </p><p>Tseng turned to follow as Rufus rounded the desk, noting how damnably still the room became around him as he set his sights on the seat he had already claimed. Not that anyone beyond Tseng had been present to witness it, but that was half the fun. There was nothing quite so delicious as withholding a secret until he could wave it like a flag of victory over the heads of all those who thought him beneath them.</p><p>Well, almost nothing. </p><p>The most delicious of all of his spoils of victory was sitting in a beautifully stunned heap on his bedroom floor upstairs, all pretty flushed cheeks and glazed eyes. Rufus had been loathed to leave him like that, too tempted to sweep his Little Bird up into his arms and press him back down into bed where he could ply him with as many kisses as it would take to unwind the tension in every line of him.</p><p>Impatience was as much a curse as the need to wait.</p><p>DarkStar looked up at him from where the bulk of her muscled body was curled around the base of the chair, her piercing red eyes alert, ears pricking up in welcome. Rufus smoothed his fingers over the rough leather hide of her head as he took his rightful seat, Tseng coming to stand at his right in anticipation of his every need. </p><p>That seemed to render many people speechless. </p><p>Sadly, not the right people.</p><p>“What is the meaning of this?” The loud stomp of thick boots beset by angry grumbling circled around the desk, Heidegger’s apparent sulk at being summoned like a mongrel cast aside in favour of his ill-concealed anger at Rufus taking his father’s throne, “Mr. Vice President-”</p><p>“My father is dead.” </p><p>Rufus didn’t bother to waste valuable time with pleasantries. None of them deserved placations or promises, or assurances. He owed none of them anything until they had proven their worth to him. That would take some time, given the dirty little secrets his Turks had been digging up for him to pore over while he had been in forced exile in Junon.</p><p>Heidegger’s bearded mouth hung open wide enough Rufus fancied he could fit the entire muzzle of his prized gun in there. Which reminded him, he would need to custom order another. He doubted the one Cloud had sent sailing 70 stories into the depths of Sector Zero would have survived such a fall.</p><p>“Dead?” The man turned puce in his outrage, an awful contrasting colour to the military greens he looked fit to burst out of, “By your own hand, no doubt!”</p><p>“That is a rather treasonous accusation.” Tseng’s interruption was placid, the tone of his voice chilled with an edge of warning as he moved up closer to the side of Rufus’ chair, “Only a fool would make such a preposterous accusation without proof.”</p><p>Scarlett’s grating laugh overshadowed anything further Heidegger had to say on the subject, Palmer flinching beside her as if it were even possible for the noise to sound any more painful up close.</p><p>“Gentlemen, this is Shinra. We have the most advanced security system in Midgar, if not the world.” Her red lipped smile was capricious as she turned it on Rufus, but he saw right through her simpering public persona before she could even hope to pin it perfectly in place, “There will be evidence enough to confirm exactly what happened. Of that, I am perfectly certain.”</p><p>Rufus smiled back at her, coldly enough that he could see her face tighten to keep her congenial mask in place. </p><p>“Oh yes, while we’re on that,” Palmer piped up from beside her, his beady eyes widening in his rounded face until he looked the very spit of a toad, hands fluttering in front of himself with a nervous sort of energy, “We’re all aware that we had many uninvited guests this evening, but no one has looked into-”</p><p>“For the last time,” Scarlett cut across him with something sharp in her eyes that made the shorter man cower, hands clasping over the crooked tilt of his yellow bowtie, “Sephiroth was not here. He’s dead. Has been for quite some time. You need to stop slipping unidentified herbs into your tea, you imbecile.”</p><p>“How dare you!” Palmer gasped out, the dramaticism of his short stature waffling about from foot to foot in his ugly brown suit drawing all attention from the way Rufus straightened in his seat, quickly concealing his interest behind the displeasure he didn’t even need to feign.</p><p>Instead, he spared a meaningful look towards Tseng, who nodded in response as the bunch of idiots his father had favoured into high positions of power began to squabble in front of him like children. Heidegger’s agitation with the entire situation he found himself in was even further stoked by the whining complaints of Palmer, as he cursed out Scarlett in such a churlish manner, he found himself the point of further ridicule for it.</p><p>Tuesti looked embarrassed to be there at all, remaining steadfast and staring ahead as if to keep himself composed, and Rufus caught his gaze for only a second, forcing himself not to roll his eyes lest he incense the gaggle further. It was enough to give the Director of Urban Development incentive to speak, an opportunity he was smart enough to grab with both hands. </p><p>“Mr. President.” Tuesti cut across the room, voice loud enough to be heard over the fuss beside him, something he seemed noticeably familiar with, “I am sorry for your loss. I had been hoping to discuss restoration plans with the former President before his untimely passing-”</p><p>“For Sector 7.” Rufus interrupted, allowing his gaze to slide over the others as they fell silent, Scarlett turning her condescending frown from Palmer to Tuesti as though she disapproved of his choice of topic, “I did hear about the unnecessary wanton destruction my father wrought in my absence. He always did favour brute force over cunning, especially when he could dirty the hands of others over doing the job himself.”</p><p>Heidegger’s spluttering kicked up again, meaty fists clenched at his sides like they were glued there, the squint in his eyes so comically mean that Rufus doubted he could see through it at all.</p><p>“The President did more for this company than you ever could, you little-”</p><p>“I would urge you to choose your next words very, very carefully.” Rufus propped his elbow up on the arm of the chair, bare fingers flexing as he leaned his chin into it.</p><p>“I’m not afraid of you, boy.” Heidegger pushed forward, putting his weight into each step as if he could carve indignant trenches into the floor beneath him, openly aggressive and ready to bluster about it. </p><p>Rufus allowed his irritation to scour across his face at the sight. As if he would be so cowed by the intimidation tactics of such a mindless idiot. </p><p>Even Tseng did not move at his side, the threat so minor that there was no need to intercept it. </p><p>Other parties were less understanding, and a warning rumble rolled in DarkStar’s belly. </p><p>The immediate ripple of unease that spread across the room at the sound would have been amusing had he been in a better mood, but any good feeling he gleaned from it was soured by the disrespect he was being shown. </p><p>Heidegger stopped in his tracks, dark eyes staring down at the desk like it housed half a dozen Malboro beneath its polished surface, and Palmer quivered where he stood like he’d been caught off guard. It seemed that no one knew she was present. As if he would return from Junon without his most precious companion. </p><p>DarkStar had always been almost unnaturally attuned to his moods since she had been given to him. It was singularly one of the most prized attributes that had been founded in the labs that made her, and one that had been well-nurtured since she was a pup. Rufus had always appreciated those gifts greatly in battle, his pet so quick to know his mind when he wanted to toy with his prey a bit longer, and just as swift to tear down his enemies when he was inclined to end a fight in a hurry.</p><p>She had certainly intuited his dance with Cloud like an absolute dream, until his Little Bird had forced her to retire from their fight. </p><p>It seemed her instincts would help even now, his faithful hound’s head lowering into her favoured hunting prowl as she rose at his side to slink around the desk. </p><p>When she came into sight again, her muscled shoulders were bunched high, hackles twitching like she wanted to tear into something. Her gait was a calculated lope as she circled around the room, claws clicking on the marble behind where the Board stood before the desk, ears laid back as a cursory growl slipped out from between her teeth until two of the four flinched forwards and away from it.</p><p>“Tuesti.” Rufus continued as if nothing was happening, his attention turning away from the telling flinch of Heidegger and how he stiffened up all the more as DarkStar moved out of his eyeline, the man too proud to turn and watch her, “I expect to see your plans tomorrow morning. Go over them tonight, and bring them to me at 10’o’clock, sharp.”</p><p>The Director of Urban Development looked relieved for some unknown reason that had nothing to do with the hound at his back, the tension in him bleeding out like a physical weight had been lifted from his weary shoulders as Rufus waved a dismissive hand at him. Tuesti thanked him graciously and turned to leave, stepping neatly around DarkStar who seemed to be lingering behind Palmer with some sort of malicious intent. </p><p>At least he didn’t hover unnecessarily. </p><p>“Mr. President,” Scarlett’s voice was all honey as the doors closed behind her, saccharine and dripping with false civility, “We hardly need bother. The benefits of Neo-Midgar will-”</p><p>“Do you know something that I do not?” Rufus responded shortly, and Palmer visibly shivered as DarkStar let out another rumbling growl, having gotten so close to his back now that his short stature put her remarkably within range of breathing down his neck, “Don’t tell me. Did my father manage to discover the sacred Promised Land and somehow manage to conceal this fact from me?”</p><p>“No, but, Mr. Pres-”</p><p>“Is the Ancient still in our custody?” Rufus hardly needed to raise his voice, eyes boring into the shocked face of the Head of Weapons Development with a laser focus that she might have approved of had it been aimed at anyone else. He was tempted to ask Heidegger, just to watch the man sweat under the scrutiny. It had been his bumbling incompetence that had led to her escape, something he acknowledged all too well by the way he dared not intervene without being expressly called upon. </p><p>“No? Let’s try another one.” Rufus continued curtly, and Scarlett glanced away from him in the first display of embarrassment that he’d seen from her in the time that he’d known her, “Are we currently in Neo-Midgar?”</p><p>The woman did not respond, brow scrunching momentarily in something that looked like frustration.</p><p>“It is foolish to count on promises unfulfilled.” Rufus stood up from his seat, leaning forward to spread both hands on the smooth polished surface of the desk, “There is much to do before we achieve those goals, so perhaps until I can trust any of you to make any significant headway in those three areas, it would be prudent to treat this city as if we intend to live in it. Especially when its supposed replacement has not yet been proven to exist. Do I make myself clear?”</p><p>The silence that descended over the room was thick, and Rufus let it hang, arching a brow sharply as he looked over the remaining three members of the board before him.</p><p>“Yes, Mr. President.” Scarlett finally relented, something tired in her voice. It was as close to a surrender as she would be willing to admit.</p><p>It had been a long day, and Rufus wasn’t inclined to needle her any further.</p><p>“Heidegger. Ensure the building is secured before you retire for the night. That will be all.”</p><p>It was as good a dismissal as any, and it was received as one. Rufus bit back the bitter urge to tell them to just get out.</p><p>It was amusing to watch Heidegger clench his jaw, enough military training under his wide belt that he did as he was told without further complaint. He turned sharply on the heel of his boot, deliberately avoiding the need to look down at DarkStar as much as possible as he skirted around her in an indelicate manner. Palmer hunched his head down into the round protection of his shoulders, giving her a wide berth as he swiftly followed, the both of them not quite running for the door, but moving quickly enough that it betrayed the fear in their steps.</p><p>Scarlett turned much more sedately, the swing in her hips and the click of her heels a much calmer procession out of the Presidential office. She did not reach out to DarkStar on her way past, although it was unknown if that was due to concern she might receive the sharp edge of teeth for her trouble, or she wasn’t much fond of pets that did not crawl after her down the halls. </p><p>Rufus didn’t care. He just wanted them out.</p><p>His temples pulsed with a bright headache, one he figured would be much soothed by a soft bed, and certain blond to curl around. Just the thought of warm skin and the memory of the soft sounds his Little Bird could make for him was enough to have his eyes wandering towards the elevator, now that there was no one present to catch him in the act. He idly wondered how Cloud was faring with his Turk babysitter, and if either one of them had drawn blood yet. </p><p>He wasn’t worried. Reno could hold his own and Cloud was much too confused to construct even the outlines of a logical escape plan if his memories jolted him in an unfavourable direction. He was in no fit state to be gallivanting through Shinra tower, and Rufus intended to ensure it remained that way until his Little Bird saw the sense in allowing himself to be kept.</p><p>There were also the gaps in his file to be dealt with. Gaps that Cloud could not help with. </p><p>The mako could yet work its way out of his system, but there was no telling how long that would take. An examination would be required. Bloods, stats, the works. Something to not only assess the damage caused by the mako dart, but also, how a cute little trooper from the sticks of the Western Continent became unofficially enhanced. </p><p>The mysteries surrounding that last mission were innumerable. Cloud had disappeared, and returned so inexplicably changed, and now there were rumours about Sephiroth sightings in the Tower when the man had been pronounced dead for over five years. Nothing made sense. Everything in the file he had in his possession was out of date except for the few documents he had regarding his Little Bird’s re-emergence in Midgar in the last few days, and the best source of information as to why had gaps in his memory bigger than the ones in the file.</p><p>Too many questions, too few answers. </p><p>At the very least, a professional opinion on the current health of his Little Bird would help him better prepare for when the inevitable happened. </p><p>Cloud would remember, but what he remembered would be crucial. How he remembered it would be just as important. Rufus didn’t care how it happened, only that it would, and when it did, he wanted to be prepared. He knew he would do whatever was necessary to ensure Cloud remained where he belonged.</p><p>He would rather that happen by choice, instead of by threat or by force, but it was better to be prepared for all eventualities.  </p><p>“Tseng,” Rufus sat back in his chair for the brief moment needed to pull Cloud’s file from the drawer he had placed it in, tucking it under his arm, the quiet murmur of his title at his back enough to let him know that Tseng was listening,  “I will need Hojo here for 9’o’clock tomorrow morning. I don’t care what he’s doing, or how important it is. I have questions I want answered. Make sure he brings a member of his team capable enough to perform a full basic health check. Someone with a pulse. Not one of his sadists.” </p><p>“Yes, Sir.” Tseng acquiesced, politely. Always so calm, so quiet. </p><p>Rufus graced him with a mildly fond look as he moved around the desk to head back towards the penthouse elevator, “I would also like the footage of what happened to my father available for review as soon as possible. Better to tie up that loose end before the vultures start circling.”</p><p>“They are no threat.” Tseng’s eyes were glinting, the corner of his mouth curved in a faint uptick, “I will send Rude up to relieve Reno when he returns. You might appreciate the quiet.”</p><p>“I believe I would.” Rufus murmured back, softly whistling across to where his precious pet was still eyeing the door with something a little too keen in her eye, “D, come!”</p><p>She followed him into the elevator with a quiet whine of disappointment, which eased into silence as he stroked over her ears, his elbow clenched to his side to hold the file as his free hand plucked open the buttons of his suit jacket. He didn’t have the fingers spare for the white waistcoat or the charcoal shirt, but the thought of how Cloud might watch him remove those in the bedroom was enough to make him tilt his head back against the elevator wall with a soft hum of approval.</p><p>It was too soon for that. His Little Bird still had his talons out.</p><p>But, it was nice to think about the day that he might welcome it. </p><p>The soft chime of the elevator urged him upright, and Rufus raked a hand back through his slicked hair before he shrugged his shoulders free from his jacket, draping it over his arm and the file in his grasp.</p><p>“Blondie! You let me in there, right now!” Reno’s voice was loud even through the sliver of the partially open elevator doors, resounding through the entire penthouse with a cadence that suggested he’d been saying it for longer than he wanted to, every note of it sudden and sharp. </p><p>Rufus slipped sideways through the sliding doors before they were even fully open, dropping his suit jacket and the manila folder onto the coffee table without looking at it. DarkStar followed after him, halting only when he barked at her to stay, the bulk of her dropping into a slump on the carpet like she’d been scolded. Rufus didn’t have time to reassure her, darting swiftly around the furniture in the lounge until he could march into the bedroom, expecting to find Cloud stirring up trouble. Instead, he found Reno rattling the glass frame of the bathroom door like he could force it open through sheer wishful thinking. </p><p>Rufus was almost amused that his Little Bird had chosen to lock himself in the bathroom as a way to escape Reno’s watchful eye, until the ragged sound of desperate coughing from the other side of the door overwhelmed Reno’s demands. </p><p>Rufus pushed the Turk out of the way hastily.</p><p>The door was locked, flimsy and decorative in a way that was easy to break, which he was more than prepared to do, but when Rufus looked up into the frosted glass, what he saw gave him pause. </p><p>The room seemed darker than it should have been, a distinctive shape lurking in the centre of the space like a living shadow. The mass of it was so bleak that it looked like it was sucking up all the light in the room, contrasting heavily with the white décor he knew lay beyond the door. It was standing over something. Something lying prone on the floor.</p><p>Rufus reared back, and kicked at the lock, destroying the door enough to yank it wide open. </p><p>The mass was gone, nothing there to even suggest what he’d seen had been real, and on the ground, Cloud was sprawled over the tile like he’d thrown himself from the bathtub, and given up on trying to crawl away. His hands were almost as white as the towel spread beneath him, fingers clutched in tight fists around it for something to hold on to as his body was wracked with choking sobs. </p><p>There was water everywhere, but Rufus paid it no mind as he carefully made his way over the slick floor to the collapsed SOLDIER, easing down onto his knees next to where Cloud lay, forehead pressed to the wet floor, naked body shivering as he wheezed through his body’s urge to expel water that was no longer there.</p><p>The scent of salt and forests filled the room in waves of warm steam, the bathtub still half full. Cloud’s hair was limp and soaked, streams of fresh water running down his face, his eyes clenched so tightly it looked like it hurt. His lips were moving, forming words he didn’t have the breath to speak, and when Rufus reached forward to touch the wet skin at his shoulder, the blond jerked away from him like it burned.</p><p>“Little Bird.” Rufus could feel the bathwater soaking through the knees of his suit, a distinctly uncomfortable feeling, but worse was the way Cloud turned his head so tiredly to look up at him, blue eyes easing open like he wouldn’t believe what he saw beyond the film of his own eyelids, “What happened?”</p><p>Air rushed out of Cloud’s lungs in a swift breath like he’d just remembered how to breathe, his eyes opening wide like he had expected anyone except Rufus to be knelt beside him, and then he was scrambling up, pushing his way into Rufus’ arms with an insistence that was surprising and slightly painful, strong hands clutching at his shoulders like his strength was returning. His damp head notched up under Rufus’ chin as he curled up to try and make himself as small as possible, wet hair dripping everywhere and turning damp skin slick again as quickly as it could dry.</p><p>Rufus glanced around the room once more to ensure there was nothing strange as he closed his arms around the trembling body in his lap, one warm palm pressed to the bare skin of Cloud’s lower back, the other curling around his shoulders to hold him tightly. The boy quaked in his lap like he was frozen, even as his skin felt hot to the touch. </p><p>The steam rising from the bath could explain that if Cloud preferred his baths on the hotter side, but nothing could explain why he smelled faintly of smoke and not the bathwater scents that permeated the room around them. </p><p>Rufus breathed him in deeply, that discordant note of burning sharp and acrid in his nose, and when that hoarse voice finally found itself, Cloud’s wet mouth mumbled the words directly into Rufus’ shirt over his heart.</p><p>“He’s coming for me.”</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry that this has taken so long, guys! I've been wracking my brain over it, I promise you, and there are tasty things afoot for next chapter to make up for my absence. I would also like to thank you for your kind comments while I've been out of commission. Life stuff has been difficult recently. I lost my mojo, and I'm trying so hard to get my rhythm back. Hopefully, it won't take too long, but please know I'm doing my best until I find it!</p><p>I hope you enjoy this chapter!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“He’s coming for me.”</p><p>The words were barely more than breath breathed damp against his skin through the thin wet fabric of his shirt, and if Rufus were the least bit superstitious, he would say that they echoed against the tiles of the bathroom with the forbidding hush of prophecy. </p><p>Thankfully, he was not superstitious, and the thought was laughable, but that did not stop the ominous hush that descended over the room as Cloud fell quiet, and it was not the most concerning thing. </p><p>What worried him the most was the way Cloud had said it.</p><p>Something sparked wrong in the sound. Something that had little to do with the alarm of how anyone could have compromised the fortification of the penthouse enough to cause such a dilemma, and everything to do with that strange note in Cloud’s throat, airy and low, like a secret he shouldn’t even know.</p><p>Rufus had heard Cloud speak in many different circumstances, despite the few hours of their acquaintance, and how little they knew about each other. Their fight-fuelled interludes so far were the furthest thing from how Rufus would usually court his paramours, and the day wasn’t even over yet, but he was already becoming accustomed to sampling the flavours of each half-hidden emotion like hors d'oeuvres from a well-dressed salver.</p><p>From the blond’s level-headed confidence as they began their dance on the roof, to the breadth of terror and confusion he had displayed waking in his embrace to unfamiliar pleasure, Cloud’s mystery had very little to do with his poker-face. He was an open book in the best way, even more so when he was at a loss of how to guard himself, but the <i>fear</i> that rode on those words in particular was intertwined with something else. Something that Rufus had not heard yet. </p><p>“Who is coming, Little Bird?” </p><p>Cloud sank further into his arms like he couldn’t even hold himself up, every rigid bone of his tense body relaxed into a limp slump against the chest he was pressed against. He was barely conscious, set to spill out of Rufus’ lap before the arms that gathered him up pressed him closer.</p><p>Rufus wanted to shake him, to watch his heavy waterlogged head loll on his shoulders until those eyes found focus and Cloud could explain, but he already knew the answers he expected to hear would be clumsy at best, completely unhelpful at worst. The body in his lap was still, and he assumed the blond had passed out, overwhelmed by whatever stressful event had taken place in the short time he had been gone, but when he looked down through the mess of blond hair to check, Rufus found the unexpected glimmer of blue, visible through wet lashes.</p><p>The boy’s eyes were open, but he didn’t seem to be seeing much, his vacant gaze pointed blankly at his shoulder, at where his own fingers were kneading restlessly at Rufus’ shirt. </p><p>There were so many questions to ask, but Cloud did not look fit to answer any of them.</p><p>Who was ‘he’? What right did he have to Cloud? What connection? </p><p>Security at the top of Shinra tower was supposed to be ironclad, but Avalanche had made the climb before so Rufus knew it would be foolish to assume it wasn’t possible for anyone else. Heidegger would feel the full extent of his displeasure in excruciating detail if that wasn’t remedied soon. </p><p>Still, the penthouse was a well-kept secret. How had this mysterious person known about it? How had he been able to make contact enough to rattle his Little Bird so thoroughly?</p><p>Rufus felt Cloud’s hair stir against his jaw as he breathed a sigh into it.</p><p>What was that lingering darkness that had fled before he had broken down the door? </p><p>It had been shaped like a person, but that couldn’t have been right. The entire mirage had been a shade of black that could not be found even as he gazed around the luminous bathroom. Rufus closed his eyes to try and remember what he had glimpsed of it, the cut of a svelte figure blurred through frosted glass. A tall, malignant presence that could vanish into thin air, with no other escape routes in the bathroom to explain how it got in, and how it got out. </p><p>He would pass it off as a flight of fancy if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.</p><p>Could he be tired? Seeing things? That could be the only explanation. It had been an interesting day, overall, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t hallucinated before. Working a solid 48 hours with nothing for fuel but coffee and resentment could do that to a person. Even if Rufus knew that this time it had felt different.</p><p>Instinct was a hard thing to ignore when you’d be raised to cultivate it like an extra limb, but what other explanation was there?</p><p>Rufus frowned down at the darkened golden crown of Cloud’s damp unmoving head, tightening his arms around the naked body in his lap. The air was cool, and his Little Bird was starting to tremble as Rufus rubbed his hands over the skin he could reach, infusing warmth into it. </p><p>His boy did not look well, something that could be attributed to the still potent effects of the excess shot of mako on his unstable system, or to whatever it was that Rufus was mostly certain he had seen through the glass of the bathroom door. He still couldn’t reason it out in his own mind. The bathroom was empty but for himself, and Cloud, and the wary hovering shadow of Reno. </p><p>But, he could have sworn there had been someone else behind the door.</p><p>“Has anyone been up here since I left?” </p><p>“No one. Just me and blondie.” Reno did not approach, remaining in the doorway to soak up the scene, eyes no doubt darting around the bathroom for any sign of subterfuge after the odd question. He was a Turk through and through, able to spot things that even keen eyes missed, “You think... someone might have messed with him, Boss?”</p><p>Rufus did not respond to the hesitant doubt in Reno’s voice.</p><p>That was fair. Cloud had been supervised since capture, and anyone brave enough to try and sneak past Reno would be in a holding cell already.</p><p>Even so, it was obvious that Cloud did not try to drown himself. The signs of a struggle were there, just with no one else to blame. That in itself was a puzzle. One he didn’t want to wait to riddle out. He’d left Cloud dazed and disorientated, but certainly not a danger to himself when he’d gone to deal with the board. Reno had not seemed distressed or frantic when Rufus had caught up to him at the bathroom door, and yet, Cloud was shivering in his arms. Possibly from the cold, or maybe from something else.</p><p>“I think that the bathroom is not the place to have this conversation.”</p><p>Quiet, careful footsteps disturbed the myriad puddles of water that hadn’t soaked into the towel beneath them, and when Rufus looked up, it was to see Reno standing over them, expression oddly serious and hand extended in offering. Hanging from his fingers was an unfolded fluffy bath towel, the longest edge of it swaying just clear of the damp floor. Rufus accepted it with a short nod of thanks, tugging the warm softness of it over freckled shoulders, wrapping Cloud up as much as he could with the blond curled stubbornly in his lap. His Little Bird did not move, but his grip did not lessen, clinging tightly to Rufus’ clothes in a way that made them feel almost too small over his own back.</p><p>“Cloud?” Rufus kept his voice deliberately low as he lifted his hand from where it rested, warm and heavy at the base of the blond’s spine to brush over the pale skin of an ashen cheek. Cloud burrowed even further into his chest in response, stirring at his touch instead of numbly accepting it, even as he tried to smother himself soundlessly in the fabric of his charcoal shirt, “You can hear me. That’s good. I’m going to stand up now, and I need you to keep still for me.” </p><p>Reno was quick to help, slipping a deft hand under Rufus’ forearm to steady him, and under Cloud’s back for additional support as Rufus rolled up onto his knees on the wet towel beneath them, finding enough purchase on the tile to climb safely to his feet. His shoes squeaked against the wet floor, polished leather and spilt water an odd combination, but even if it was expected, the Turk beside him said nothing to break the odd tension in the air with a witty comment. </p><p>Rufus took a moment to muse on the fact that he’d never heard Reno so quiet.</p><p>Cloud did not respond to any of the movement as he was jostled between two sets of supportive hands, his upper body clenched so tightly to Rufus’ chest that all strength seemed leeched from his legs as they tumbled bonelessly beneath him, the mythril bangle at his ankle scraping against the tile floor. Rufus clicked his tongue in chastisement as he stooped to curl his arm beneath the buckle of bent knees, lifting Cloud and gathering him up into his arms to take them out of the bathroom. </p><p>It was difficult, the floor treacherous beneath the soles of his shoes, and with his Little Bird unresponsive enough to not balance his weight as a fully conscious person would try to, it only made everything much more precarious. The redhead at his back had his hands out to catch him if he fell, but the progress was slow, as he was keen not to need them. </p><p>When they were safely into the bedroom proper with no broken bones or shattered pride to tend to, Rufus turned on his heel and headed through the door to the lounge, aiming straight for the sofa. Cloud shuddered once in his arms, a ripple running through his entire body, either from the chill of the moving air against his water beaded skin, or whatever was going on in his addled little mind. Rufus didn’t know. He wanted so badly to ask, but the situation was delicate. It was hard not to see that, even if he didn’t yet know what the full extent of the situation was. </p><p>Not knowing things was becoming very tiresome, very fast.</p><p>He didn’t spare a thought for any potential damage to the fine leather of the sofa as he sat down in his damp clothes, the wet patches at his knees sticking uncomfortably to his skin. The cushions sank beneath his weight as he cradled his unresponsive burden in his lap, Cloud’s legs, bare but for the gleam of silver at his ankle, stretching out across the empty space on the seating as Rufus tried to fold the towel even more securely around him to preserve whatever modesty he had left. </p><p>Reno emerged from the bedroom a moment later, his usual slouching step hesitating briefly when he caught sight of DarkStar, drawing Rufus’ attention from the boy in his lap when he remembered she had come up with him from the suite. She hadn’t moved, a large splash of dark colour against the carpet as she lifted her head from where it had been resting on her forelegs. The very space she had reached before she had been told to stay.</p><p>Rufus felt remorse burn in him at her drooping ears, at how she looked at him. How such a magnificent beast managed to adopt such a profound expression of plaintive yearning through her grizzled features, he had yet to understand, but she pulled it off spectacularly. He could only feel proud for the fact that even as she clearly wanted to, she did not outright whine at him. </p><p>He held his hand out to his beloved hound, and she rose as if she had been summoned, crossing the room and weaving her muscled body around the furniture like she was familiar with the penthouse already. Smart girl. She had probably used the time she had to check the surrounding area and make her own assessments, even while confined to the limited sightlines of the spot Rufus had bade her to remain in. </p><p>It was no surprise that even as she pressed into his outstretched hand in a nuzzle that was almost sweet, her eyes fell on Cloud, bundled as he was within the circle of his arms. She seemed to recognise him, either from the scent of him, even from under the more apparent markers of forests and smoke, or by his distinctive hair, perhaps. Either way, her hackles rose swiftly, something like a muted snarl rumbling out of her broad chest. </p><p>“Easy, D,” Rufus soothed at her in a low croon, sliding his hand beneath her chin to scritch at the leathery skin there, leaning forward just a little to press Cloud’s unresponsive form closer to her to show he was no threat, “He’s my guest. I won’t have you mauling him over a misunderstanding.”</p><p>DarkStar did not look impressed, her chains from her half cleaved collar rattling as her shoulders hunched and her growl picked up in volume, teeth bared in warning. He waved her off with a fond look until she circled the coffee table to slump into a sulk at the other side of it.</p><p>“Your sweetheart must be tasty, Boss. She looked like she was gonna eat him, yo.” Reno chuckled, but it was oddly subdued, and when Rufus looked up, the redhead looked like he was puzzling over something in his head, a faraway cast to his usually sharp green eyes. There was a garment folded over his arm, crisp and white, starched. It looked like a shirt from the walk-in, one of his own if he was not mistaken.</p><p>Reno noticed him looking down at it.</p><p>“Oh, it’s for SOLDIER-boy.” Reno draped the fine fabric over the arm of the sofa, “He was wearing it earlier. Think you might have damaged his shirt, or something, when you were both...” </p><p>The redhead trailed off, both eyebrows raising in implication and Rufus was half-tempted to make him finish the sentence, but there was no time. The thought of Cloud dressed in his clothes, wrapped up in them until that deliciously selfish brand of ownership could be seen, and touched, and his scent was soaked unmistakably into precious freckled skin, was alluring, but something was amiss, and so, much as it pained him, Rufus knew he would need to shut those thoughts away for later. Cloud’s grip had eased a little on his shoulders, his hands looking a little less stark now that he seemed to be calming down, and Rufus took the opportunity to situate the blond a little more comfortably, tilting him back into the cradle of his arm so he could better see his face.</p><p>Blue eyes were shut, breathing steady. A little colour was blossoming back in the deathly pallor of his face. He didn’t look to be sleeping, but he was not fully alert, the angle of his head seeking to get closer in a way Rufus knew he would immediately deny were he awake. </p><p>Stubborn Little Bird.</p><p>Stubborn Little Bird with too many secrets.</p><p>Best to start with the facts before he tried to unravel them.</p><p>“What happened, Reno?” Rufus didn’t manage to tear his eyes away from the boy in his arms as he spoke, but Reno didn’t need him to, “Start from when I left. Details, please.” </p><p>“Nothin’ too serious.” Reno came closer, not daring to sit down while he delivered his report, but his tone remained low and casual, “Blondie spent a bit of time in a starry-eyed heap after you left him in the bedroom. Must have laid the charm on thick there, Boss. It was a good ten minutes before he even got up off the floor. He wandered around a bit. Bathroom, closet. Freshened up and changed clothes. He was spitting sass at me just fine when he came into the lounge...”</p><p>“And, after that?” Rufus did look up then as the redhead fell silent, Reno’s hesitation uncharacteristic given how well he could shove his own foot in his mouth on a regular basis. Oh, he never spilled secrets, and he knew the value of vital things. Nothing worth time or money or resources had been wasted by Reno on one of his infamous impulses, and he was loyal to a fault, but he was a hothead at heart, and sometimes let his temper get the better of him. </p><p>Even through it all, he didn’t hesitate.</p><p>“Blondie had a bit of a dizzy spell, collapsed against the window. He was fine, a little spacy. I reckon that was mako-related, so I wasn’t gonna poke him about it. He was looking out the window. At Sector 7. I think he got a flash of something.” Reno’s grin was a little sour, something melancholy about it that Rufus couldn’t recall ever seeing on him before, “He was surprised to see the gap in the upper plate, at first. Didn’t remember we trashed it, even though he was there at the time. Seemed real sad about it for a moment, and then it was like a switch flipped. He was angry. Like ‘Let’s-Take-Shit-Personally’ angry. Glared at me like a pissed off cat, yo.”</p><p>Rufus stifled the smile that wanted to curve his lips. Reno really had a way with words that could make even the blandest debrief sound like a bad rewrite of an entertaining story.</p><p>“And? What did he do?”</p><p>Reno reached up to tug awkwardly at his goggles, adjusting the lenses and the strap, setting them down exactly where they’d been before he’d bothered to touch them, like habitual fussing.</p><p>“Chewed me out some. Asked me if I felt guilty, like he knew I was involved somehow.” Restless hands dug into pockets, Reno shrugging his shoulders up as if he could hunch his long neck into them, “He couldn’t have known anything about that unless he remembered something. I told him to back off, but he kept going. It was like a movie reel was rolling in his empty little head, telling him all the things he didn’t know.” </p><p>Reno perked as if struck, and Rufus hushed DarkStar as she whipped her head around to watch the redhead move, always alert to sudden movement like she needed to put teeth in anything that approached Rufus too fast.</p><p>“He also specifically mentioned the big red button for the plate separation. I never said anything to him about it, so he must have remembered that on his own. Looks like we gotta be real careful with him if it’s all coming back already.” </p><p>Rufus looked back down into Cloud’s unconscious face, unable to deny that he was pleased with the new developments, regardless of how they came about. </p><p>Could it really be that easy? Just a little time? A little patience, and some stimulating reminders, and Cloud would gradually remember it all on his own? The mako was working itself through his system already, spreading, maybe even diluting itself until its effects were less potent. That was easy enough to believe given that it was such a small dose, no matter how concentrated, but the side-effects had hit so hard when Cloud woke up that it seemed obvious that it would be something to be endured for a while yet.</p><p>Rufus buried his smile in damp blond spikes, Cloud unconsciously nuzzling closer under the press of a kiss.</p><p>He could have his Little Bird back, hale and hearty within weeks. Days, even.</p><p>That could be dangerous. He could acknowledge that, even as the thrill rolled through him like thunder. To be coaxing a mild-mannered amnesiac in one moment, only to be subduing a captive the next. The scales could tip with just the right nudge, and all that righteous fury he had delighted in on the rooftop could come crashing down like heavy rain. </p><p>Cloud was a challenge in every instance, it seemed. </p><p>“Did he tell you what he remembered?”</p><p>“He wasn’t really in the mood to share. We fought each other on the pillar before the plate was dropped. He didn’t like me very much, then. Probably doesn’t now, even if he can’t remember everything.” Reno rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand, looking a little sheepish, “The feeling is absolutely mutual. He kinda kicked me across the room long enough to lock himself in the bathroom before I could catch up. Guess his strength is coming back, too.”</p><p>Rufus didn’t bother to restrain his laugh, and Cloud mumbled discontentedly in his arms at the noise, freckled nose scrunching up as he turned his head further into the crook of the arm that braced him to muffle the noise in at least one ear. A few soothing strokes to his hair quieted him down quickly enough that Rufus made a note of it. </p><p>It was always helpful to have a few tricks in hand. </p><p>“Don’t know why you wanna keep him, Boss. He’s a handful right now, and it’s only gonna get worse later. Though, I guess he’s passably cute when he’s sleeping.” Reno mused, fiendishly, “Would make excellent blackmail material for when he’s all grumpy again.”</p><p>“Why I will be keeping him is my business, not yours.” Rufus didn’t even bother to hide the lasciviousness of his smile, “Though I appreciate the concern. So, he kicked you across the room and made a run for it. Fairly obvious where he went. What happened in the bathroom?”</p><p>Reno did not get the chance to respond.</p><p>Cloud stirred in the arms that held him, a soft little mumble tumbling out of the barely there gap between mostly closed lips, and when blond lashes fluttered open, and dazed blue-green eyes looked up, the boy was nothing short of adorable in the disgruntled look that stole over his face when he met Rufus gaze directly.</p><p>He did not remain calm for long.</p><p>“What-” Cloud flailed before his mind properly caught up with what was happening, legs kicking at the leather sofa cushions, hands lurching away from Rufus’ chest where they’d pressed after they’d gradually released their hold of his shoulders, “What the-”</p><p>“It’s alright. Calm down, Little Bird.” Rufus folded his arms even more securely around the body in his lap, and Cloud’s eyes widened even more, mouth curling into an indignant snarl as he realised where he was and how little he was wearing, his cheeks burning a furious red as his desperate hands clutched at the towel around him. </p><p>“Where are my clothes?!” His voice rose from the quiet husk of sleep to borderline frantic in barely any time at all, his knees drawing up towards his chest in a vulnerable display of mortification. He seemed to think better of it when the position left him curled up and helpless in Rufus’ lap like a frightened mouse, “What did you do?”</p><p>Reno snickered quite loudly from where he had moved to lean against the sprawling windows, but that only drew Cloud’s horrified attention to him, and in a move that surprised everyone present, apparently even Cloud himself, the blond broke the hold around him with a deft little hand maneuver that looked more muscle memory than anything else, rolling off of Rufus’ lap, and the couch entirely. </p><p>Rufus’ exclamation of surprise was loud as he clutched at his wrist to try and stop the spasm shooting up his arm, but Cloud barely seemed to hear it, so blatantly stunned that he’d been able to do it at all that he hit the floor in a naked sprawl, his dignity only slightly preserved by the towel slipping from his shoulders to pool around his hips on the carpet.</p><p>“Ow.” The blond’s tone was slightly delayed after his uncomfortable landing, and more than a little dazed, but it didn’t stay that way for long as DarkStar lurched up from her comfortable sprawl behind the coffee table at the commotion, and came prowling towards him with a rumbling growl, bristling up to her most menacing at the sound of her Master in pain. Muscles bunched under leathery skin, and her eyes flared a bright cherry red, luminous and fixed on Cloud with a dislike palpable enough that Cloud crawled back from it in instinctual fear, clutching at his towel with a startled gasp.</p><p>He wasn’t quick enough.</p><p>Cloud’s back pressed against the cage of Rufus’ legs with little room to move elsewhere, a choice that cornered him as DarkStar covered the little distance between them, but Cloud didn’t seem capable of looking away from the threat as it approached, too shaken by her sudden appearance to plan ahead. Rufus knew he could talk her down, wave her off, but Cloud did not remember her, and it seemed too good of an opportunity to miss, to have his Little Bird cling to him in a silent beg for help.</p><p>She was close now, and coming closer, so much so that Cloud was all but pinned beneath her as she growled directly into his face, massive paws braced either side of his sprawled legs. The whip of her tail was lashing side to side like an agitated zolom, and his Little Bird cringed as the chains of her ruined collar dragged coldly over his bare chest. He tried to lean further back with nowhere else to go, clenching his eyes shut, and finally turning his head away so he wouldn’t have to watch if she decided to attack him. </p><p>’As if I would allow that...’ Rufus thought as he reached a hand out to settle in damp blond hair, ruffling it softly to disguise the way he held Cloud still so DarkStar could take her measure of him.</p><p>Cloud didn’t fight the hold beyond his urge to inch back from the rough wet nose pressing daringly against his cheek, DarkStar’s teeth bared disturbingly near to where the blond had unwittingly exposed his throat in a move she would eventually come to accept as surrender. He knew his girl well, and it was a wise move, if uncalculated. </p><p>It only took one more long, low, and threatening growl against his Little Bird’s face, enough to make the boy flinch, before she seemed to decide her message had been imparted. </p><p>Cloud did not see her turn to step over his legs with an agitated huff, slinking away from her undamaged prey and back to the warm spot on the rug where she had been lying on the other side of the coffee table.</p><p>Rufus said nothing as Cloud peeked open one eye to check the coast was clear, the tense line of his shoulders slumping in relief as he reached up a shaking hand to rub at his cheek. His heart was racing. Rufus could feel it as his hand swept down the back of the blond’s neck, and the boy’s outrage at his lack of modesty seemed utterly forgotten in his bewilderment, even as he clutched his towel over his naked skin as much as he possibly could.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Cloud looked utterly baffled, turning those enchanting blue-green eyes up to stare at Rufus, the confusion in his face making him seem so much younger than Rufus knew him to be, “What did I do to her?”</p><p>Reno could do nothing but laugh.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Question. Why do children feel the need to scream outside my house when they're supposed to be having wholesome socially-distanced fun? *opens the window* SHUT UP, PLEASE! I'M TRYING TO WRITE KINKY KIDNAP AMNESIA SMUT HERE!</p><p>On another note, how badly do I want Reno to sex Cloud? *ponders* Not in this one, of course. Rufus would never allow it. Maybe an idea for a one shot where Rufus isn't being completely selfish with his sexy little trophy?</p><p>What do you guys think?</p><p>Love and cookies to you all!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cloud seemed awfully pensive when he managed to get his bearings.</p><p>For all that he was staring metaphorical daggers at Reno as he creased up against the stretch of windows, his pulse settled remarkably quickly after his fright with DarkStar, and he did not try to move from the floor, staying obediently under the hand settled at his neck. </p><p>The raised red bump where the dart had pierced him was only a lightly coloured bruise now, not so inflamed, the scattering of healthy veins around the injection site not so engorged with the glow of mako. They were still faintly glowing, but it seemed Cloud was recovering well, perhaps even more quickly than should be expected.</p><p>Rufus coasted his thumb through the prickle of fine blond hair behind that cute little ear piercing, and wondered at how oddly pleasing it felt to see his Little Bird seated complacently at his feet. It probably had to do with Cloud’s quaint sense of modesty, trying to keep himself covered with the towel, but the choice remained the same, regardless of why. As a reward, Rufus draped the shirt his Little Bird had been wearing before his bath around his shoulders without him needing to ask for it, and Cloud slipped his arms into the too long sleeves with a fleeting smile of gratitude.</p><p>He looked distracted. No doubt, he was trying to puzzle through events. He hadn’t woken up where he last remembered himself to be, and that would be disconcerting for anyone.</p><p>But, he did not ask. He did not say anything. </p><p>Rufus waited the few seconds it took for Cloud to button up enough of the shirt to feel some semblance of dressed, before tugging the blond up onto the sofa beside him, better able to see his face that way. Cloud followed his guidance without hesitation, but when he pulled the damp towel up after him as an extra layer between pretty skin and wandering eyes, Rufus took it from his hand, silencing all protest with a sharp look as he turned to drop it on the coffee table in a messy heap. </p><p>Cloud did not reach for it, grumbling quietly and looking unexpectedly adorable in his fruitless effort to cover himself more with the scant hem of the shirt. </p><p>Oh, but those thighs, bare and in all their glory looked so very unblemished. Rufus eyed the soft embarrassed flush working its way over freckled cheekbones before he let his eyes drop again, one adventurous hand stroking over pains long healed. He hadn’t checked when he had Cloud spread over his lap, bound and blindfolded, but he could see now that the bullet hole he’d put in Cloud’s leg during their fight had healed into perfectly smooth skin. The blessing of enhanced healing. </p><p>Rufus pressed in close when his boy tried to retreat from him, cornering him into the arm of the plush cushions so he had very little room for avoidance, and caught his chin in one hand to tilt his face up. Cloud blinked back at him, uncomfortable, but present enough for some rather direct eye contact, and Rufus leaned in closer to press a lingering kiss to his brow.</p><p>“I’m glad you’re alright.” </p><p>The words were more to prompt the conversation than anything, and perhaps he did mean them in many ways. He needed to settle that dark thought in the back of his mind that told him his eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on him. That the shadow he’d seen was simply that, a shadow. Cloud was his to keep, his to mark. No other should have that power unless he ordered it.  </p><p>“Why wouldn’t I be?” </p><p>The response was puzzling, and surprisingly blunt. Cloud was frowning like he didn’t understand, an expression that was beginning to look exceptionally normal on him, given everything he’d lost under the sway of the mako, and if Rufus hadn’t been admiring them so very closely before his departure, he would not have noted how much more blue they were. As if the mako was starting to settle. </p><p>The incredulous snort from over by the windows was loud.</p><p>“You sayin’ you don’t remember falling ass over tea-kettle in the bathroom?” Reno’s voice was a mocking drone, dragging out the words like he wanted to infuse them with as much derision as he could, “Tried to drown yourself, then changed your mind? Took a swan-dive on the tiles? Any of this ringing any bells in that empty head?”  </p><p>Cloud’s entire body seemed to stiffen at Reno’s voice like he’d forgotten he was there in the few short minutes that he’d been quiet. Grim satisfaction soured his expression as he turned his gaze on the redhead, the other man twitching into a lean much more capable of quick movement if Cloud chose to do anything rash. Unarmed and unclothed as he was, Rufus could still see two predators eyeing each other up for conflict, and Cloud could probably move fast enough to start a fight even in his current state. Reno had confirmed as much.</p><p>“I don’t want to talk to you.” His Little Bird’s voice was dismissive and dry as a bone, rude in a way that made Rufus feel both titillated, and viciously proud in equal measures, “I can kick you across the room again if it will help you to be quiet.” </p><p>Reno bristled, mouth open like he was thinking of flinging a retort when he caught sight of Rufus shaking his head over Cloud’s shoulder, and deflated with an irritated grunt, slumping into a sulk against his chosen window. His eyes remained fixed on Cloud, and the blond was staring back, both glaring at each other like ill-tempered cats on unclaimed territory. The animosity between the two of them simmered like a low flame, brimming with untapped potential. </p><p>Rufus was intrigued  by it.</p><p>Reno wasn’t lying when he said they had a mutual dislike of each other. The proof of it was hanging in their air, thick enough to bite. It was no surprise given Cloud’s first memory partially recovered was one of such bitter loss, one that he held the Turks personally accountable for. He was not wrong, but the true perpetrator to issue the order wasn’t exactly around to endure the blond’s anger. That made Reno the closest target.</p><p>He’d let them fight it out if he weren’t impatient for answers. They were fiery, headstrong men in their own right, and a little animosity often translated well in passionate circumstances. Were he not so particular about having his own hands on his newest acquisition, he would openly admit they would make a fetching pair in his bed together, and wrangling them both seemed like a rather exciting prospect. </p><p>Instead of ruminating on that delicious thought, Rufus turned Cloud back to look at him with insistent pressure along the clench of the blond’s jaw.</p><p>“That’s enough of that impertinence, Little Bird.” He murmured into Cloud’s still scowling face, exhilarated at the displeasure he found there, that blatant display of upset so much closer to the boy he’d first met up on the roof than he expected to find in such a short time, “We were having a conversation.”</p><p>“I don’t really want to talk right now.” Cloud hunched down into himself, trying to tuck his legs up close, but the shirt did not cover much of anything that way and he gave up, huffing at it in irritation, “I took a bath, I fell asleep, maybe? I might have been tired.”</p><p>“You said that someone was coming for you.” </p><p>Cloud looked up, and Rufus was struck again by the blue in his eyes, how much the green mixed with it into a dancing swirl of colour. The uncertainty in them was enough to soften the sharp clip of his words.</p><p>“I don’t remember saying that.”</p><p>“Alright.” Rufus reached out to card his fingers through Cloud’s damp hair, unable to resist the cute little tufts as they sprung out in a strange unstyled shape around his face. Cloud tracked his movement warily as if it were a trick to lull him into a false sense of security, “Do you remember if anyone else was in the bathroom with you?”</p><p>Reno shifted by the window, standing up straight like he was alarmed by the question, but Rufus did not look at him, eyes only for his Little Bird. </p><p>“I remember… water. And, fire.” Cloud absentmindedly turned into the touch of his hand as he tried to think, sucking his lower lip between his teeth to bite and suckle at it in a distracting manner, “Everything was burning, and there was a voice, calling me. You were in the bathroom with me. We were on the floor. Everything was burning. I couldn’t breathe. People were screaming...”</p><p>Cloud tried to lurch up to his feet in a sudden surge of movement, but Rufus reacted to the coil of strong muscles in time, throwing his leg over bare thighs, hands planted firmly into the blond’s shoulders to anchor him back into the sofa cushions. Blue-green eyes were wide as they stared up at him and Rufus could feel the kick of legs beneath his weight, but Cloud’s hands settled peaceably on his wrists, neither tugging, nor grabbing beyond a simple light hold. </p><p>“Please, let me go. I have to leave.” Even though he hadn’t done much to exert himself, Cloud’s breath sounded thin and reedy, like he couldn’t draw it, a strange shudder rolling through him and forcing him to twist uncomfortably under the hands that kept him in place, “I shouldn’t be here.”</p><p>“You are here because I want you here.” Rufus responded coolly, pressing more of his weight into his arms, the leather of the couch squeaking as Cloud sank further into it with the force held over him, “And, it is my authority that matters.”</p><p>“Something’s wrong, though.” Cloud’s voice was pleading, feet sliding through the thick down of the rug like he was trying to push himself up without leverage, the shift in his mood spiralling from petulance to anxiousness worryingly fast, “Don’t you feel it?” </p><p>“There is nowhere else you need to be, but here with me.” Rufus asserted, like that was the end of it, climbing to his feet, and twisting his hands to take both of the blond’s thin wrists, tugging him up after him, “Perhaps I should take you to bed. You’ve had a trying day, and some rest would do you good.”</p><p>That expressive face looked decidedly nervous about returning to the bed he’d woken up in for all of a second before Cloud managed to school himself, only chancing a brief look over at Reno, measuring the distance between them in case he needed it to fend off any advance the Turk could make to ensure his compliance. Reno bared his teeth in a smile that was less than reassuring, and Cloud frowned back at him like he expected as much. </p><p>“I’m fine!” Cloud cleared his throat as Rufus tried to lead him back towards the bedroom, digging his toes into the carpet to try and slow their progress, “Really! I should just go back to my room. I’ll have duties in the morning, and I need to pick up my spare uniform. My roommates are… probably really worried about me?”</p><p>Cloud looked as if he didn’t believe the words himself, although Rufus wasn’t entirely sure why. It wasn’t like he knew he had been declared missing in action for the past five years, and that any comrades he had known from the time before that would have advanced their careers without him, or left for more barren pastures outside of Shinra’s graces. If they hadn’t died outright in the line of duty.</p><p>He also did not remind him that if he was now SOLDIER Third Class, his lodgings would no longer be where he would have remembered.</p><p>Still, the point was moot. Cloud would not be going anywhere.</p><p>“Oh? Refresh my memory. Which barracks are you in?” Rufus pressed as they stopped in the middle of the room, careful to keep his interest muted, lest his Little Bird detect exactly how keen he was to hear him lie, “Do you even remember where your room is, Cloud?”</p><p>“Of course I do!” Cloud scoffed, pausing in trying to twist his wrists free, “It’s down by...”</p><p>The blonde fell silent, perking up like he’d detected an anomaly in his own head, an absence of knowledge that made him squint into the aether to try and unfold the mental map he was trying to recreate. The words he was looking for didn’t seem to want to come, and his Little Bird looked more than slightly stunned by it, as if the evidence he wanted to give wasn’t there for him to verify, but he was too stubborn to say so.</p><p>Rufus knew that time and Reno’s little dart gun had taken exactly what he was looking for, that Cloud was fishing for information he would not find. The heavy weight of his silence hung in the air like a vacuum, speaking its own truth as Cloud floundered. </p><p>Rufus raised an expectant eyebrow at his wayward captive, but the blond pressed on, stubborn to a fault, despite the warning signals tempering the air of the penthouse</p><p>“Of course I do.” Cloud repeated, as if it meant more the second time.</p><p>‘Hmm,’ Rufus thought as he caught the expected lie, the softly expressed determination to seem convincing crossing the blond’s face only confirming it, ‘So, that’s what that looks like. I have you now.’</p><p>“And, who are your roommates?” Rufus released Cloud’s wrists to give him the illusion of freedom, of time to think as he turned his head to Reno. The redhead looked back at him, smile widening like he was enjoying himself, “You’ll need to be watched until you are fully recovered, so we will need to inform them of your condition. Reno can verify them, but I would like their names.”</p><p>It took a few seconds while Cloud searched hopelessly through the remains of his muddled memories for the facts, but when they did not surface, the gradual dawning comprehension was like watching a cresting sunrise. Slow. Almost beautiful. </p><p>Cloud hid nothing, too busy rummaging around in his own head to control the tells he was displaying outside of it. The anxious frown of distress, and the heartbreaking uncertainty were a treasure to witness from someone so strong. One hand came up to rake in agitation through wild blond hair, his fingers getting trapped in the tangles, and Rufus was quick to put a stop to it before Cloud pulled too hard, reclaiming his boy by the wrist and tugging him close.</p><p>“I know the answer to that. I know them.” Cloud was insistent, more in trying to convince himself than anyone else in the room, “I… they were-”</p><p>“Hush now, my Little Bird.” Rufus folded him into his arms while he was too upset to resist, and pressed Cloud’s head in until he could feel the warmth of it under his chin like he had when he had held Cloud in the bathroom, quiet and still and calm, “This is why you must stay with me. You’ve been poisoned, and that comes with temporary complications that we need to keep account of. It is to be expected that you have some trouble.”</p><p>“Temporary?” Cloud’s words were frail and shivering, and to Rufus’ delight, the blond nuzzled in closer to him, seeking warmth, even in his state of undress, “Do you know if they’ll come back? My memories?”</p><p>“I dearly hope so.” Rufus confirmed as nothing but the sincerest truth, lips nuzzling in light kisses into the crown of that golden head, hands stroking down the length of the lightly muscled back until they settled obscenely low on his waist. It was tempting to dip his hands beneath the hem of the shirt that barely covered him, tempting to cup and squeeze until Cloud writhed fretfully in his arms, “To have you remember who we are to one another? There is nothing that would please me more.”</p><p>Cloud looked up at the words, eyes grateful and ever so bright, their mako glow like a stunning confirmation all in it’s own right. </p><p>Rufus had resigned himself to the fact that any marks he put in Cloud’s skin would vanish under the strength of his enhanced healing. Any collar could be torn off or removed, or worse, hinder his teeth from finding that beautifully bared neck to ravish it. But, his eyes. They were a mark of SOLDIER, and SOLDIER bowed their head to Shinra.</p><p>It was as permanent a claim as any.</p><p>Rufus didn’t hesitate, one hand sliding back up the notches of the boy’s spine to tug Cloud’s head back by the downy hair at the nape of his neck. He watched those plush lips part as Cloud let him do it without complaint, all but offering himself up whether he understood it or not, and that was all the permission he needed. </p><p>The kiss was as hungry as any he’d taken, but the joy that softened it came when Cloud allowed it, opening his mouth with a plaintive sound that encouraged, pushing up on his toes to press in close and open himself up for it. It was intoxicating. That mouth had only ever told him no, even when he didn’t remember why he was saying it. To have his Little Bird so willingly surrender to his demands was enough to drive him to madness, and when Rufus’ bare hands met equally bare hips, Cloud’s lightly muscled arms circling around his neck and lifting the hem of his shirt with them, he realised that Cloud had foregone his modesty in his need to be closer. </p><p>His fingers firmed, dragging Cloud up against him, and the sensation of naked skin through the damp of his clothes was a temptation of the highest order. He hadn’t yet pressed skin to glorious skin with the magnificent creature whining ardently into his mouth, and the need to strip them both bare so he could gratify their combined hunger with the feeling was overwhelming.</p><p>He released Cloud’s lips only long enough to press a line of hot, hard kisses down his jaw, over his ear, the heat of his breath enough to make the blond wilt in his hands as they groped over the bare skin of his ass, fingers savagely digging in to firm muscle in a way that made Cloud yelp as his knees buckled. </p><p>“Enough stalling, Little Bird,” Rufus stepped back towards the bedroom door, pulling Cloud after him, “You’re going in there, or I will carry you in there myself.”</p><p>Those beautiful eyes narrowed at him when he lifted his head to meet their gaze, something quite akin to the unimpressed expression he had made on the roof before their little dance crossing his mouth in spite of the healthy flush in his cheeks, and Rufus stepped up to the unspoken challenge with no small amount of excitement.</p><p>Cloud’s indignant squawk as he was thrown over the other man’s shoulder was a thing of beauty, the strong taut muscles of his stomach flexing as he wriggled, and another indignant noise burst from his lips as his feet left the floor. Rufus wound his arm around those pretty, bare thighs to hold them tight to his chest as Cloud tried to use them, limiting the blond’s ability to kick. </p><p>Cloud tried regardless, his warm hands pressing against his back through his shirt as that wonderful voice cursed his name, but they didn’t hit, and his struggles were far too enjoyable to incur punishment. </p><p>Rufus buried his smirk against the bare skin of the blond’s hip as the hem of the shirt rode up with his squirming, reveling in the heat of the half-hard cock firming against his shoulder, protected from wandering hands by clenched thighs. Nearly all of that delectable ass was naked in the air as the only clothing he was wearing inched further up his back, and Cloud tried to reach back to grab for it, too unsettled to make much progress in the attempt. </p><p>“Loving that view, Blondie!” Reno’s hands slow-clapped in enjoyment, lips pursed in a condescending whistle as Rufus marched through the bedroom door with his scantily clad cargo, cutting off any retort his Little Bird could have made by slamming it shut behind them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapter is going to be so fun! SO FUN! *squirms in my seat* Let me know if there’s any particular kinks you want, my darlings! Rufus can't go too hard on Cloud for now because he wants his Little Bird's compliance, but raunchy shit can still be useful for later, when Cloud's a little more in the know, so get your recommendations in~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Is it past midnight in the UK? You bet your ass. Do I have work tomorrow? *cries in exhaustion*</p><p>But, did I finish this chapter? YES. YES, I DID. So, I'm going to log off now, put my laptop down gently, and try to pass out for boring adult responsibility reasons, and you guys get to enjoy this absolute filth! Comments give me serotonin, if you're feeling generous. </p><p>Thank you, and have fun!</p><p>--</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cloud squirmed uselessly against the cutting muscle of Rufus’ shoulder, could feel his hands sliding down the man’s back as he tried to push himself into a better position for leverage, but he didn’t find it before Rufus tumbled him onto the unmade bed. </p><p>He bounced in the unkempt sheets, hands quickly scrabbling to try and cover himself with the scant protection of his shirt as Rufus climbed on after him, pressing his legs down when Cloud raised his knees to try and clamber backwards. A sudden thrill raced through him at the feeling of being cornered into the mattress, one he’d felt as keenly as the foreign rollicking fear that had swelled inside him when he was pinned to the couch. It was unexpected, something he wanted to kick out against, but the impulse warred with the molten heat in his gut at the promise of pleasure in Rufus's cold blue eyes.</p><p>Cloud wanted to stay, to remain under those firm grounding hands until his body lit up like a flare. He wanted it just as much as the alien compulsion inside of him wanted him to leave.</p><p>He didn’t understand it at time, and it made even less sense now, with Rufus prowling over him and drawing all of his focus. </p><p>Why would he want to leave? </p><p>Rufus only wanted to help him, to keep him safe. He touched him like he was precious, kissed him like he had been denied the taste of him all of his life. Even when Cloud was cripplingly aware of how much of a liability he was, a backwater hick with a faulty memory and a body too weak to handle a simple mako infusion, Rufus still held him like he was carved of exquisite gold.</p><p>Sure, it mattered that he didn’t remember him, but he knew intimately what it felt like to exist without that care, and someone that high on Midgar’s ladder should be the last person to give it to him. So, there had to be some truth to Rufus’s claims that they knew each other, right? He was certain that he had nothing to give that Rufus couldn’t find in prettier, more well-bred pedigrees. But, for some reason he strained to remember, he hadn’t chosen them.</p><p>Rufus had chosen him. </p><p>Despite his trepidation, Cloud felt strangely exalted spread out on his back beneath one of the most powerful men in Gaia. He could distantly hear how his breaths came hard and heavy with adrenaline as his thoughts raced to process what was happening, could feel the burn in his chest as he tried to prop himself up on his elbows, and when Rufus slid a knee up between his naked thighs to nudge them apart, the blond almost stopped breathing completely. </p><p>For some inexplicable reason, he wanted to push back, wanted to throw Rufus off of him, and in the same half a thought, he wanted to pull him closer, drag him down until they could press together everywhere that their sharp and stubborn edges would fit. </p><p>Everything was so disorientating, his body wanting to instinctually fight where his mind soaked in hot sensations, but Rufus had sounded so earnest when he’d said they’d meant something to each other before he lost his memory. He’d said he wanted him to get it back, and the truth in his declaration was so weighted that it made it even harder to breathe even before Rufus leaned down to satisfy Cloud’s need for closeness, pressing his mouth open again, and licking his way inside of it. </p><p>Cloud tried to fight through the sudden throb at his temples, the short sharp pain feeling like disconnected displeasure that didn’t even belong to him, and tossed his head to the side to fill his impatient lungs through the clamour of his own thoughts. Rufus’s soft laugh pressed into his cheek as Cloud kept his mouth from him, open mouthed kisses scattered over his face as the blonde writhed against the sheets like he wasn’t sure what to do, or what he wanted.</p><p>Slender hips pushed up, and Cloud gasped like he was drowning as the other’s weight came down on him, jolting against the mattress when the resistance of another person on top of him made his stomach clench hotly. Why did it feel so dangerous? Why did the danger make it feel so good? He didn’t know, dizzy from the spin of his own conflicting thoughts as warm lips latched onto his throat to suck even more firm kisses into his skin. </p><p>“Gaia,” Cloud didn’t recognise his own voice, words airily light from deprivation, hands switching from clutching at the bed sheets to finding out Rufus’ shoulders were a much sturdier grounding point, and when his head was tipped back for another kiss, his mouth was already open to receive it, a whine forced out of his throat like it was waiting there to free itself. </p><p>Everything was so hot, and he was supposed to be angry that he wasn’t allowed to leave, but Rufus was shifting against him, and it felt so good that all Cloud could do was roll his hips up into the pressure of the man’s thigh against his hardening cock and pant into his mouth as he was kissed senseless. </p><p>Warm hands slid down from his jaw, coasted over his shoulders and the loose collar of the shirt to rip at the few buttons holding it closed with something like impatience. Cloud knew he should stop him, knew it would leave him all but defenceless with the man almost fully clothed atop him, but Rufus’s mouth was so distracting, and he couldn’t stop himself from sinking into it with abandon. </p><p>The buttons scattered, flying off in different directions when brute force proved to be enough, and when Rufus rose up over him on his hands and knees, Cloud swallowed thickly at the sight of blown blue eyes raking over him, and the smothering sensation of being caged between the arms either side of his head.</p><p>He felt exposed, the shirt slid free to either side of him, barely clinging to his shoulders, and his thighs were clenched tightly around the leg between them, squeezing as if they could urge it back where he wanted it, but Rufus was still staring and it was making him nervous. The mouth that had been driving him to perilous ruin was slightly swollen when it smiled at him. Not a kind smile, not even a gentle one. One that made him sacrifice his pride and drop flat on his back so his arms were free to pull his shirt closed.</p><p>Rufus caught his wrists again to stop him, and while Cloud realised belatedly that he was strong enough to fight them, he did not, allowing Rufus to pin them either side of his head with ease. It didn’t steal away the uncomfortable turn of his stomach when he allowed it, but Rufus was too powerful to hurt. Newly minted SOLDIER or not, Cloud was under no illusions that the Turks would hunt him down if he so much as lifted a finger against the President of Shinra. </p><p>He must have looked too conflicted for his lover’s liking, keen eyes appraising him with something a little too careful, and Rufus hitched his leg up higher. Cloud was instantly preoccupied with arching up to rub against the thigh brushing teasingly against his balls as the other man leaned in closer, eyes eating him up like he was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen as he bent down, lapping at his open mouth, and gliding his tongue over the blond’s teeth to coax him back into the moment. </p><p>“W-why are you- hey, hang on, why are you looking at me like that?” Cloud fought to get the words out between hungry kisses, squirming even more under the attention as Rufus pressed his leg up harder to really give the blond something to writhe against, and Cloud bucked against the sheets, his shirt bunching up beneath his spine with his constant shifting.</p><p>Rufus licked at his own lips as if savouring a flavour there.</p><p>“I’m admiring you.” </p><p>Cloud scowled up at the man over him, not enjoying the scrutiny in the least. He’d never seen himself as attractive. The petty jeers that called him pretty in the infantry showers, and from his own roommates as he tried to safely change his clothes without being cornered were not fond memories. The glimpse he’d gotten of himself in the mirror when he’d stripped down for the bath showed him more muscle definition than he remembered, which was a plus, but he was still short, still scrawny for a newly initiated SOLDIER, and mako eyes didn’t sweep away any of the lingering insecurity.</p><p>“Please don’t look at me like that.” Cloud flexed his arms where they lay, and his wrists turned easily beneath the grasping hands that held them. For a moment, Cloud could have sworn that Rufus looked pleased about it too when he leaned in closer, as if he were reveling in the strength that Cloud was undoubtedly letting him curb.</p><p>“Whyever not?” A hot tongue dragged up over the bare flesh of his sternum, lingering pointedly around the bright white scar in the centre of his chest, the tissue of it throbbing heatedly under the glancing pressure. It seemed to sear him right through his chest like he’d been pierced with scalding metal, and Cloud threw his head back into the bedding with a rattling cry as the world flashed green around the edges, the phantom scent of leather and the imaginary tickle of long hair dragging over his naked skin making him shake before he managed to pry his eyes back open.</p><p>Rufus didn’t seem to have noticed anything except his thoroughly entertaining reaction to a warm, wet touch, lips pursed in promise over that scar, breath hot on it in a way that made it burn.</p><p>“You’re stunning like this. Laid out for my eyes to feast on. I’m not hearing reasons why I should give up such a view, but I am open to considering your concerns, if you would like to air them.”</p><p>Another kiss was dropped onto his chest, and Cloud nearly swallowed his tongue as cool blue eyes flashed green in a single blink, aristocratic face momentarily hidden behind another, thin lips curled in a capricious smile. It had only been for a moment, barely a second, but Cloud felt instantly cold, toes digging into the sheets of the bed when he was unable to curl his legs up closer due to the body between them.</p><p>“Speechless, are you?” Rufus prompted, eyebrow arched teasingly, “Well, if you have nothing to say...”</p><p>“I really... it’s just not fair? I don’t like you staring at me like that.” Cloud stumbled over his words, shifting awkwardly as he turned his head away so he couldn’t see the blatant leer in response to his unease, faintly embarrassed by the whine in his own voice when the stiff length of his cock brushed over the fine fabric of Rufus’s suit trousers, “Not when I’m almost naked, and you’re...”</p><p>Not. Not at all naked. Fully clothed. It felt like a power imbalance. Cloud wasn’t naïve enough not to imagine what might happen if Rufus did take his clothes off, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was being purposefully driven to request they be more well matched in their states of undress, and he did want that. Wanted it very much, if only so he could stop feeling like he was missing the punch line of a very important joke. The look that fell on him when he stuttered into silence only seemed to make his suspicion grow.</p><p>“Oh? You feel we are unevenly matched, my Little Bird?” Something in the older man’s tone was sly to Cloud’s ears, and Rufus crawled up higher over him to breathe over his mouth instead, flicking out his tongue to scald his lower lip, “What an egregious oversight. Why don’t you help me do something about that?”</p><p>It felt like permission. Like he had just asked for it, and it had been granted. Cloud’s stomach turned again, something inside of him absolutely repulsed at the acknowledgement that he had just heeded command like a bloodhound, but it vanished before he could fully grasp the feeling to examine it. </p><p>Instead, he threw himself into his task, eager to even the playing field.</p><p>The black tie and white waistcoat ended up somewhere on the floor, the buttons of Rufus’s charcoal shirt meeting the same fate as Cloud’s own, maybe even worse as the rich cotton tore and a rain of plastic flew across the bed, one button bouncing off of Cloud’s cheek in a way that made him laugh unexpectedly. That impulse he’d felt earlier that evening to damage things in the walk-in wardrobe purred inside of him like a contented cat at the chance to fulfill a denied need, and Rufus shook his head in poorly disguised delight at the display.</p><p>“Just like a naughty little terrorist. Making a mess wherever you go.”</p><p>Cloud opened his mouth to respond to that, to query the unusual choice of words, when Rufus slipped his hand down between them to graze his fingertips over the tip of the blond’s cock, smearing the clinging drops of pre-cum over the head of it until it was shiny and wet. </p><p>“Someone should punish you for that, don’t you think?”</p><p>Cloud’s breath stuttered out of his chest like a deflated balloon as the touch ignited unfettered desire in his veins like a spark to dry kindling. His whole body felt unsteady as his hips arched up into the barely there touch, his hands still clenched around the torn fabric of the other’s shirt until it gave some more, tearing like wet paper under his harried tugging. </p><p>His eyes closed, a guttural moan escaping his throat as the rest of Rufus’s hand followed, circling his fingers into a tunnel for Cloud to blindly thrust into, and his mouth remained open when he felt Rufus lean in towards him, the brush of his naked chest enough to have Cloud yank him even closer without looking. His arms were almost forceful as they dragged Rufus down against him, one leg hitching up over the older man’s hip for more leverage to thrust into his stroking fist </p><p>“How I wish I could taste you.” Rufus’s words sounded slightly breathless at his show of strength, a low dark stream of temptation filtering directly into his ear, and Cloud mewled into the shoulder he pressed his cheek to, the seams of cotton under his hands creaking warningly as he clawed at them, rolling his hips up even faster in frantic need, “But, there’s no need to worry. Just a little longer now, and I can have all of you. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, my Little Bird?”</p><p>He was so close, he didn’t even think to respond to the question, chasing that finish line like he could drag it closer with his bare hands. He remembered falling apart this way in Rufus’s lap the first time he’d woken up after his mako treatments, blindfolded and bound and already weak to the currents of pleasure coursing through him. He wanted that again. The sweet high that made him feel like he was flying. Like he was above the world, surrounded by dark clouds, the scent of gunpowder and blood in the air as he primed himself for another attack. </p><p>The gleam of silver coins spinning in the night sky looked like shining stars against the back of his eyelids.</p><p>Cloud’s eyes shot open, and he whimpered in dismay as his leg was pushed aside, losing the rhythm that punched pleasure into his gut so wonderfully as he sank down against the sheets, head muzzy and disorientated. </p><p>The slick hand that had been stroking him slipped lower between his parted thighs while he lay there, prostrate and heavy under his denied orgasm, fingers ghosting over the hole between his cheeks before he could properly register their destination. He wanted to squirm at the foreign touch, hands fisting in the bedding as he tried to find the energy to push himself upright, but Rufus was looming over him with that darkly promising smile, his other hand working at the buckle of his belt.</p><p>“Wait-” Cloud’s mouth was dry, and he tried to close his thighs, trapping Rufus between them, but not enough to stop him from pulling his belt free and tossing it to the floor, and the daunting prospect of being naked under him was enough to make him rethink his eagerness, “Please, don’t. I’ve never done-”</p><p>“Shhh, this is nothing to fear. Don’t worry, Little Bird.” </p><p>A careful hand carded through the dishevelled mess of his now dry blond hair, stroking it back from his face, and while he was trying to be gentle, it didn’t stop Rufus from pressing a little harder against the hole he wanted so badly to be inside, undulating his fingers against it as if he were fascinated by the way the muscles clenched against his intrusion. </p><p>Cloud finally let himself cling back as Rufus wrapped his other hand around the flushed red flesh of his cock to stroke it in time with his pressing, the blond letting out a little gasping cry. His stomach was trembling in nervous fear as he rocked his hips into the overwhelming feeling, forward into pleasure, and backwards into threat, but no matter how many times he did it, the fingers that tested his resistance did not press inside. </p><p>It made him a little more confident that Rufus might respect his protest, which in turn allowed him to move with a little more abandon, until he was cresting that wave again, and almost tempted to let those fingers inside of him, if it meant he could finally hit that peak.</p><p>His face was flushed, he could feel it in his cheeks as his head rolled on the mattress, legs spreading even wider so he could tighten the string of pleasure drawing tight in his pelvis, urging it to snap. He felt wanton, and desirable, little hums of gratitude slipping between his tightly pressed lips to keep himself from begging as he rocked up hard into the clasp of strong fingers, even as Rufus’s hand was slowing on his cock, easing him away from the edge he so desperately wanted to reach.  </p><p>He settled into the bed again with a desperate whine, even missing the warmth of the touch against his hole, the skin there now sensitive and wet, almost inviting as he worked the muscles just to test the newfound pliancy of them.</p><p>“That’s it, Cloud. You’re so good for me.” Rufus pressed a sweet kiss to the tip of his nose, and Cloud blinked up at him, eyes clouded and hungry as Rufus released him completely, tugging him up onto his knees, “It’s nothing to be afraid of. I have every intention of easing you in gently, and while it is so very tempting to open you up right now, and listen to you scream for me, I think it best that we save that beautiful sight for a less traumatic evening, don’t you?”</p><p>Cloud nodded, even if only half the words made sense in his pleasure-drunk mind. That made it twice now, two times thus far that Rufus had denied him relief, but as the older man stripped his shoes and trousers off, flinging them over the side of the bed with his underwear and torn shirt, Cloud wasn’t daunted by the size of his cock as he crawled over it into Rufus’s open arms, settling into his lap and grinding up hard against the toned muscle of his stomach. </p><p>“There we go, such a good boy.” Firm hands adjusted him slightly until the unfamiliar feeling of thrusting up against another hard cock made him keen at the unexpected indulgence of soft skin against wet soft skin, something that only became more intense when Rufus rucked up the hem of the shirt hanging off of his shoulders to grab handfuls of his ass, yanking him in until the pressure between them was enough to crush Cloud’s uncertainty.</p><p>Like a man possessed, he arched up into kisses he was blessed with, sucking on Rufus’s tongue like he was starved as he wrapped his arms around the older man’s neck, hips rolling under the guidance of the press and pull, choking out a moan into Rufus’s ear as he ducked his head down into his shoulder to pant when he ran out of breath. His cheeks were pulled apart, and the stroke of persistent fingers over his hole felt almost possessive, but he paid them no mind, intent on chasing his own pleasure. His cock was soaked between them, gliding wetly between their stomachs and made wetter by the other cock that rubbed against it. </p><p>It was almost too much to bear.</p><p>He was so wound up that he took very little time to come, biting down on his tongue hard enough that his mouth flooded with the copper taste of blood as he rode Rufus’s lap like being spread over it could suffuse him with nothing but sheer joy. The stuttered thrust of his hips drove him through the long sustained orgasm he had been too long denied, and into oversensitivity like a freight train, the shift from one to the other so sudden that he whined into Rufus’s neck, pressed up hard against his stomach, his own nails digging into his own forearms as he shuddered like he’d been doused in frozen water after burning up.</p><p>Even when the aftershocks were done with him, he couldn’t help but to slump down against Rufus’s chest with a muted whimper, eyelashes fluttering as he tried to catch his breath.</p><p>Rufus seemed pleased with his exhausted state, his teeth grazing over his neck in a kiss that felt far too satisfied, and Cloud felt one of his hands release his ass just long enough to fumble between his legs, slipping his cock between spread thighs to frantically stroke himself. Cloud didn’t know what he was doing until Rufus groaned his completion between kisses to Cloud’s shoulder, pressing the head of his cock up against the sensitive hole he’d been teasing to lay his claim across it in thick streaming pulses.</p><p>Cloud tensed as he felt the wet splatter of release leak down over his balls and between his legs like he’d just been freshly fucked, cheeks burning in humiliation and he hugged his arms tighter around Rufus’s neck to hide as more wet droplets arced up to land over his lower back and over the swell of his ass. Stroking fingers were still working intimately between his thighs as Rufus milked himself dry against where he held Cloud open.</p><p>“Hmmm, you feel absolutely perfect.” He murmured, the head of his cock rubbing up against the mess, pressing in at the space his fingers had been so adamant on until Cloud worried he’d try to press it inside of him while he was too tired to protest, but Rufus seemed blissfully contented as he hummed into Cloud’s ear, moving back to nip at it. Instead, he coasted the length of his softening cock between the slick skin of his ass in a gentle rock, smoothing his clean hand up Cloud’s back and down in long soothing strokes that were enough to unwind the tired blonde bit by bit into the lull of a light doze.</p><p>It took a few minutes, but when Rufus realised Cloud was falling asleep against his chest, he urged him back from his shoulder, wet fingers swiping against his cheek in a gentle stroke that felt like more of a claim as his eyes moved to look at the glistening streak he left on the blond’s face, “Let’s get you cleaned up. I’m sure you’re exhausted, and we have a busy day tomorrow.”</p><p>Cloud reared up onto his knees as Rufus slid out from beneath him, stripping Cloud of his irreparably ruined remaining garment, and casting it to the floor with the rest of their chaotic disorder. When he left the bed, he backed away from it like the sight of Cloud bleary-eyed and fucked out was too much of a pleasure to look away from, and when he returned, he lingered long over wiping him clean. His face was first, a soft kiss dropped on the cheek he’d smeared, his chest and stomach and the tender spent flesh of his cock were next.</p><p>When the damp cloth dragged up his thighs to catch the spend that streaked them, Cloud found himself bent over on his knees, flushed face buried in bed sheets to hide how wide his eyes became as a hot, wet kiss was pressed to his ass-cheek. Rufus took his sweet time, stroking the flannel down over the dip of his lower back, and when he rubbed the terrycloth down between his cheeks to clean up the mess he’d made of him, Cloud tensed against how good it felt to be touched there.</p><p>He didn’t see Rufus smirking over his bowed back as he deliberately rubbed the cloth over clean skin just to watch the soft blush of stimulation colour him pink, and Cloud muffled his groan into the mattress. If he was SOLDIER now, it made sense that his recovery time for such activities would be shortened, and he cursed his own body as warm heat settled into his stomach like a new craving.  </p><p>“There now, all clean.” A damp hand stroked one last time over his ass before Rufus left to dispose of their washcloth in the bathroom.</p><p>When he returned, Cloud let himself be ushered into the bed properly. The topmost sheet, still smeared with lube from his first awakening, was pulled off and dumped on the floor where most of their clothing and the random smattering of stray buttons lay scattered, but there were plenty of covers folded back at the foot of the bed, the weight of them almost smothering as they were drawn up.</p><p>Rufus pulled Cloud across the mattress towards him when he was settled, curling up around the curve of his back and pressing his mouth to the back of Cloud’s neck in a spot he seemed to favour for some unknown reason. Cloud didn’t really give it much thought. He was too distracted by how their naked skin was pressed together under the blankets in every place he could think of, and despite their interlude, he felt horrendously shy about it. </p><p>He’d never slept naked with anyone before. At least, that he could recall. </p><p>It kept him awake until long after the soft sounds of sleep stirred the hairs at the nape of his neck where Rufus had succumbed to rest, but Cloud didn’t feel comfortable. Something was itching in the back of his head, like a soft humming that made him restless, and he felt trapped in the arms that held him. He wasn’t sure why. Rufus had been kind, respected his wishes for the most part. If they knew each other well as Rufus claimed, it would be unfair to withhold his affections purely for his own misgivings. The loss of memory was a shortcoming he had to overcome, after all. </p><p>It wasn’t Rufus’s fault he hadn’t been able to tolerate the mako.  </p><p>Still, Cloud squirmed out of his lax arms, rolling away quickly enough to watch them tighten back into a fold without him inside them, Rufus seemingly undisturbed by his selfish need to sleep untouched. </p><p>The other side of the bed was blissfully cool without another person’s body heat, and a mountain of blankets to make it stifling, and Cloud kicked off most of the covers, and shoved the sheets down to his hips as he settled down on his back peacefully on his newly claimed territory. It felt better, more natural for him to sleep alone, even if being naked while doing it felt strange. He didn’t know why, but he was too tired to analyze himself, nuzzling down into the pillow to locate the perfect groove to rest his head.</p><p>The mattress dipped at his side a few minutes after he’d discovered his preference for perfect comfort, disturbing him from the tempting whisper of sleep. He didn’t panic. The door was shut, Rufus hadn’t moved, but he didn’t panic. There was no reason, everything was fine. Every muscle he had was lazily relaxed in fearless expectation, and at the gentle nudge of urging inside his mind, he blinked his eyes open to gaze up into the face he didn’t think to see.</p><p>Sephiroth was sitting beside him, his profile beautiful in the light from the reactors pouring in through the spread of windows. The green fire blazed in his eyes until they glowed, catching in his hair until he appeared to be carved free of the Lifestream itself. He looked ethereal, divine. Something out of time that had broken the world to make itself present. </p><p>Cloud reached out, hand heavy as the edges of the room sparked with colours in the corner of his eye, and another hand caught it. The touch of black leather was as cool and inviting against his fingers as the sheets around his hips, and the colder side of the mattress, and Cloud sighed rapturously as his hand was lifted to the other’s face, allowed to curve around that strong jaw as Sephiroth leaned down to meet him.</p><p>Silver hair draped around him like a cocoon, separating him from everything. From the other person in the room. From Gaia itself. All that existed was that hint of a cutting smile and those eyes that rendered him helpless. Cloud tried to lean up, tried to offer himself, but an aching pain rampaged through his skull like a flash-fire, all screaming and crackling and burning. Everything was burning. The whole town was alight. The distinct sound of buzzing from underneath all of the noise grew louder, turned the fire from blazing orange to a slow bubbling liquid green. Green as cat-slit pupils in endless eyes.</p><p>“I’ve found you.”</p><p>Cold lips met his before he could utter a sound of pain or try to question the words, their touch soothing away all of the nightmare that uncurled its crisp edges behind his eyelids like the memory had been stolen out of his open mouth, and he sank into it, lips parting eagerly to receive his benediction.</p><p>Sephiroth kissed like he was claiming, a long slow plunder that felt like he could pull energy from the receiver like power could be pulled from the rays of the sun. Cloud couldn’t even hold him, the hand on that divine face falling limp to the bed without Sephiroth’s hand to keep it there. All he could do was lie still, and let his idol touch him, kiss him, render him weak.</p><p>Gloved hands stroked down over his bare chest, and Cloud wanted to press up into them but his body didn’t seem to want to work. </p><p>Instead, he could only writhe as Sephiroth pulled away, his kiss broken far more quickly than it had come, and Cloud opened his mouth to call him back, but words were gone. He had nothing to say, no sounds to make. Instead, his eyes rolled back as one gloved hand stroked over the tent he’d made of the sheet between his thighs with an enigmatic smile as he backed away from the bed. </p><p>When Cloud opened his eyes again, he was gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ready to yell at me yet?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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